With Acting Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard

Are you a member of a club or group? If it is a registered Association, do you know if it has lodged its annual information statement?

We are compiling a list of associations that may be defunct as they have not been submitting an annual information statement and appear to have been dormant for 12 months or more.

The reason associations and clubs are required to submit an information statement to Consumer Protection every year is to confirm the association is still active, eligible to be incorporated and has held its Annual General Meeting.

If an incorporated association has not submitted its information statement, we will have to presume it is inactive, which carries the risk of the incorporation of the association being cancelled. If the incorporation of the association is cancelled it is no longer a legal entity, which may cause problems for the association … and we don’t want that.

If you’re a committee member or office bearer of an incorporated association that hasn’t lodged its information statement, we urge you to do the honours as we look forward to hearing from you.

Submitting the annual information statement is not a big undertaking and doesn’t cost money – it can be done in the time you might take to have a cuppa and there are no lodgement fees.

Lodgement of the information statement can be completed online through our web portal AssociationsOnline. We even have a helpful video to explain how at www.commerce.wa.gov.au/cp/infostatement

You should make sure you have the following information ready when you complete your association’s statement:

• the association’s current address for service (this can be a street address or a PO Box);
• the date of the most recent annual general meeting; and
• the total revenue for the last financial year.

You will also be asked to confirm:

• whether the association has at least six voting members;
• the association’s main purpose, such as educational, sporting, recreation or religious; and
• whether the association is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission.

It is not necessary for an association to submit copies of meeting minutes, financial reports or registers of members or committees with the information statement.

The report is more or less just a checklist for both the association and us to assess whether you are still operating as per the requirements of the Associations Incorporation Act 2015. It is also a great way to formally confirm the contact information for the association.

If you are a member of a club, society or association that is active, please encourage your committee to submit its information statement if it hasn’t already done so.

If you were a member of a club or group that you know no longer exists or operates, we encourage you to contact Consumer Protection and let us know that the group is no longer operating.  You can do this by completing our very simple online form which can be found at www.commerce.wa.gov.au/endassoc or send us an email at assoc-cleanup@dmirs.wa.gov.au to ensure it’s included on our ‘defunct associations list’ which will be made public in the near future.

David Hillyard, Acting Commissioner, by CP Media