Incorporated Societies Act 2022

Enforcement - Miscellaneous provisions relating to applications

150: Limit on Registrar’s power to apply

You could also call this:

"Registrar's Power to Apply: Only When it's in the Public Interest"

Illustration for Incorporated Societies Act 2022

The Registrar can make an application under certain parts of the law, but only if they think it is in the public interest. When deciding this, the Registrar must think about how societies work and how they should be self-governing. They must also consider how the application will affect societies in general and if it is a good use of their resources. The Registrar has to consider many things, including whether the application is important for promoting good governance of societies. They also think about whether someone else, like a member of the society, is likely to make the application instead. The Registrar looks at the size and nature of the society, including if it gets public funding, which means money from the government or public donations. Public funding includes grants, donations, or gifts from the government or the public. A public entity is an organisation that is defined in the Public Audit Act 2001, which you can find on the Public Audit Act 2001 webpage. The Registrar uses this information to decide if making an application is in the public interest.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS101036.

This page was last updated on 4 January 2026 — View changes

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149: Registrar may bring proceeding to recover financial gain, or

"The Registrar can take a society to court to get back unfair gains."

151: Court may refuse to consider application, or

"The court can say no to your application if it's not important or you're not the right person."

Part 4Enforcement
Miscellaneous provisions relating to applications

150Limit on Registrar’s power to apply

Despite anything else in this Part, the Registrar may make an application under any of subparts 1, 2, 4, and 7 only if the Registrar considers that it is in the public interest to do so.
The Registrar must, when considering whether making an application is in the public interest, have regard to—
the principles that—
1. societies are organisations with members who have the primary responsibility for holding the society to account; and
2. societies are private bodies that should be self-governing in accordance with their constitutions, any bylaws, and their own tikanga, kawa, culture, and practice, and should be free from inappropriate government interference; and
the likely effect of the application and the associated proceeding on the future conduct and governance of societies in general; and
whether making the application is an efficient and effective use of the Registrar’s resources; and
the extent to which the application and the associated proceeding involve matters of general significance or importance in terms of promoting high-quality governance of societies; and
the likelihood of the society, a member, a former member, or an officer making an application (if an application has not yet been made) and diligently continuing the associated proceeding; and
the size and nature of the society, including whether the society receives or has received any public funding or there is otherwise a significant public interest in the governance of the society; and
any other matters that the Registrar considers relevant.

In subsection (2)(f), public funding includes any grant, donation, or gift from a public entity or from members of the public.
In subsection (3), public entity has the same meaning as in section 5 of the Public Audit Act 2001.