The Act provides for the incorporation of associations, the affairs of incorporated associations and connected purposes. The Committee was aware of prevailing criticism about certain aspects of the Act and proposed that it be given the task of reviewing the Act, with the object of considering:
- whether any need at all existed for an alteration to the legislation dealing with the incorporation of non-profit associations; and
- whether this should be achieved by radically reshaping the legislation or by introducing specific amendments.
Terms of Reference
The Associations Incorporation Act 1895-1969 (WA) was referred to the Committee for general review in 1971.
Outcomes
In 1987 Parliament passed the Associations Incorporation Act 1987 (WA), which adopted the majority of the recommendations of the report. Those that were not implemented were generally minor and included the requirements for verifying documents and some minor administrative requirements.
The new Act did however replace the previously existing jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to hear an appeal against rejecting an application for incorporation, with an appeal to the Minister whose decision on the matter is final. This differed from the Committee’s recommendation that the appeal jurisdiction be transferred to the District Court. Despite this difference the new Act appears to have been operating without significant criticism for the past 14 years.
