What is a public officer?
A public officer is both the official point of contact for an incorporated association and one of the authorised signatories.
Who can be a public officer?
A committee member, an ordinary member or a person outside the association may hold the position of public officer.
The public officer must be over 18 years of age and reside in New South Wales. An association's incorporation may be cancelled if it does not have a public officer or if its public officer does not comply with these requirements.
What is the official address?
Every association must have an official address. The official address must be a physical address in NSW where the public officer can generally be found. It must be the premises where documents can be received by post.
The official address cannot be a post office box.
The public officer must advise NSW Fair Trading of a change of official address by lodging the approved form Notice of appointment of public officer and notice of change of association address PDF, 992.2 KB (form A9) within 28 days after the current address becomes obsolete or unusable.
Authorised signatory
The public officer is automatically one of the authorised signatories for the association. However, the public officer is not automatically a signatory to the association's bank account.
Go to the Management committee page for additional information on authorised signatories.
How is the public officer appointed and removed?
The person nominated as the public officer on the application for incorporation of an association will become the association's first public officer. The committee must fill any vacancy in the position of public officer within 28 days.
A public officer will vacate the position if he or she:
- dies
- resigns in writing to the committee
- is removed from office by the passing of a resolution at a general meeting
- becomes bankrupt
- becomes a mentally incapacitated person
- ceases to be a resident of New South Wales, or
- meets any circumstances as provided for in the constitution.
- The new public officer must notify Fair Trading within 28 days of the new appointment. Notification must be in the approved Form A9 Notice of appointment of public officer and Notice of change of association address PDF, 992.2 KB
What are the responsibilities of the public officer?
The public officer is responsible for:
- notifying Fair Trading of any change in the association's official address within 28 days
- collecting all association documents from former committee members and delivering the documents to the new committee member
- returning all association documents to a committee member within 14 days, upon vacating office
- acting as the official contact for the association, including taking delivery of documents served on the association and bringing them to the attention of the committee as soon as practicable
- custody of any documents as required by the constitution.
Need more information?
Registry and Regulatory Schemes
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PO Box 22
Bathurst NSW 2795