Incorporated Society changes

Hamilton Bridge - Future Updates

This is a short summary of changes prepared by NZ Bridge – Waikato Bays for a recent seminar. Hamilton Club already complies with a number of these but does need to by April 2026 to comply with all the changes to be able to re-register as an Incorporated Society

• Have a compliant constitution/rules;
• A committee;
• Develop and record a dispute resolution process;
• Comply with new financial reporting standards;
• Maintain the minimum number of members required under the new Act.

Constitution must cover:
• Name and Purpose
• Membership process
• Procedure for amending the constitution
• Information about Committee structure, quorum, procedures
• Roles of Committee members, terms of office, removal process etc
• Financial processes
• Societies wind up process (must go to not for profit organisation)
• Membership register procedures
• Contact person and how they are replaced
• Dispute Resolution process
• Process for members to make complaints

Additional Legal Stuff
• Conflict of Interest is now covered so Committee members must disclose any conflicts of interest when contracts are entered
 into, new equipment bought etc and, if conflicted, may not sign documents and should remove themselves from the
 decision process.
• There is a new list of offences that line up with business rules such as misleading statements, using the Societies
 equipment for personal gain etc.
• Officers can be personally liable for financial commitments or loss – similar to company Directors.
 Large clubs may want to consider Directors Insurance.

New Privacy Requirements
• Must not make Email addresses visible to recipients unless they are already publicly posted
• Unsolicited Emails must have an option for unsubscribe
• To meet these requirements the best idea is to use BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) under the CC tab in most Email programs
• The Unsubscribe can be done manually but clearly state that unsubscribe may take up to a specified number of
 days to implement.
• Members personel data is kept secure apart that agreed with members to be made public.