NfP Law General Not-for-profit
The issue In the first of this series of articles (originally published in 2010) I outlined the disadvantages of unincorporated societies, noting that a 2007 Statistics New Zealand report stated that there were then some 97,000 Not-For-Profit entities in New Zealand. Given that statistic I suggested that less than half were incorporated, which I believed […]
Introduction Most not-for-profit organisations recognise that they have a moral duty to ensure the health and safety of their members and others who attend those activities. They have a statutory duty do so under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 if they employ one of more people. Where a not-for-profit organisation uses a […]
Introduction Most not-for-profit organisations recognise that they have a moral duty to ensure the health and safety of their members and others who attend those activities. They have a statutory duty do so under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 if they employ one of more people. The Covid-19 pandemic has created a […]
Being all things to all people? “There’s nowt so queer as folk” is a phrase (variously attributed to different parts of the British Isles) that reminds us that every individual is different and, even, that some may appear to be irrational. Most community organisations welcome into their fold almost anyone who is interested in their […]
My article, “Winding up a society or charitable trust”, closes with a warning of the officers’ potential liability on liquidation: Society committee members and charitable trustees may be personally liable following liquidation if the entity they have governed has suffered losses caused either by the failure to keep adequate accounting records or by misapplication or […]
According to a Dominion Post report (17 August 2010) a police investigation was instigated after more than $750,000 was drained from Whitireia Polytechnic Students’ Association funds over a 12 month period. An audit report is said to show that huge cash payments were made to former Association executive members, that about $17,000 was spent through […]
The problem – ignorance about the Privacy Act 1993 For many lawyers and other professionals the implications of the Privacy Act 1993 are scarcely “top of mind,” or particularly well-known and well-understood. Briefly, the Privacy Act controls how what are called “agencies” in the Act collect, use, disclose, store and give access to “personal information.” […]
Errors in governance and administration are inevitable, and in voluntary organisations those governing and administering an entity often lack the skills to know what, who, how, and when to do things. Another article, Good Governance of a Society LINK set out some of the potential problems, while other articles in this series have discussed the content […]
Privacy Act 2020 The Privacy Act 2020 applies to governmental, commercial and community organisations (societies and charities), as, under section 4(1), the Act applies to a “New Zealand agency” which is defined in section 8(a)(iii) as including “a New Zealand private sector agency,” and s. 7(1) of the Act makes it clear that “In this […]
The problem with outdated legislation Many society members and lawyers regularly advising on society and charitable trust issues will be aware of the inadequacy of the legislative framework for the governance and management of incorporated societies and charitable trusts. The Incorporated Societies Act 1908 is over a century old, and the Charitable Trusts Act 1957 […]
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