Associations

The Associations Incorporation Act 1984 allows a person to inspect or obtain a copy of particular documents lodged with the Commissioner by an incorporated association upon payment of the prescribed fee.

An Extract* or copy of the Certificate of Incorporation may be obtained from the Registry of Co-operatives & Associations or over the counter at any Fair Trading Centre in New South Wales. Copies of all other Register documents must be obtained from the Registry of Co-operatives & Associations.

*An Extract is a document listing the registration number of the incorporated association, its current status, current and previous association names and public officers and a list of all documents accepted for lodgement on the Register.

Co-operatives

The Co-operatives Act 1992 allows a person to inspect and obtain a copy of documents from the Register of Co-operatives upon payment of the prescribed fees. Clause 43 of the Co-operatives Regulation 2005 sets out the documents that form the Register.

The Co-operative Housing and Starr-Bowkett Societies Act 1998 allows a person to inspect and obtain a copy of particular documents in relation to co-operative housing societies upon payment of the prescribed fees. Clause 7 of the Co-operative Housing and Starr-Bowkett Societies Regulation 2005 sets out the documents that are available.

Search request form

To obtain documentation about a particular incorporated association, co-operative or co-operative housing society select and complete the appropriate search request form from the selections below:

Incorporated associations search request form in PDF format (size: 63kb)
Co-operatives search request form in PDF format (size: 60kb)
Co-operatives housing societies search request form in PDF format (size: 76kb)

Please note: these are not the forms for pre-paid account holders who should contact the Registry to obtain a copy of the appropriate form for completion.

Once you have completed the search request

Follow these steps:

1. Lodge the completed form with the Registry of Co-operatives & Associations by
   fax: 02 6333 1484 or post to
   PO Box 22 Bathurst  NSW  2795.
2. Once the request is received, the Search Officer will contact you within 3-5 working days regarding the cost or progress of your request. There is no obligation to proceed with the search request and the documents sought may be altered at this time.
3. Once the Search Officer has provided a quote for your search request, payment must be made within 28 days in one of the following ways:
   • send a cheque or money order, payable to the Registry of Co-operatives & Associations to
     PO Box 22 Bathurst NSW 2795
   • pay at your nearest Fair Trading Centre and telephone the Registry to advise the receipt number issued
   • fill in the credit card payment form in PDF format (size: 27kb) and fax or send it to the Registry.
4. Upon receipt of payment, the search results will be forwarded to you by post.

In most cases, requested documents are not able to be sent electronically, however results of up to 20 pages may be faxed prior to being posted, if requested.

More information

Any queries regarding inspecting and obtaining information on incorporated associations, co-operatives or co-operative housing societies should be directed to the:

Search Officer
Rules Branch
Registry of Co-operatives & Associations
Freecall 1800 502 042