Know your legal obligations
Know your legal obligations
29 September 2025
Your legal status
There are several different legally recognised structures that a club might adopt. What you use will depend on factors such as your organisation’s purpose, your size and the activities you intend to offer.
- Unincorporated group
- Incorporated society
- Membership group or trust
- Charitable trust
- Company
The most common structures in the New Zealand club landscape are incorporated societies or charitable trusts.
Being an incorporated society is highly recommended to protect members from legal liabilities.
Find out more: Sport NZ Incorporated Societies
LINK TO COMPLIANCE & LEGAL PAGES
Incorporated or unincorporated? That is the question
- Your national or regional body, or funding agency, may have a requirement: check there first.
- From a risk perspective, do you own significant assets or deal with large sums of money? Is there a risk inherent in your club’s activities?
- Incorporated: your club is a separate legal entity; able to own property and enter into contracts. Your members are protected from being personally liable for club debts.
- Unincorporated groups: there is no obligation to have rules and there are fewer legal obligation. Your club cannot own assets or enter into contracts. Your members can be held personally liable for club debts.
Sport New Zealand has more information on the pros and cons: Sport NZ – Incorporated societies
Would be good to have the pdf Pros and cons to being incorporated (SNZ) here.
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