The East Malvern Junior Football Club operates as an Incorporated Association under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981.
If you wish to read the Club's Rules of Incorporation, please click on the file at the end of this page to download.
What is an incorporated association?
There are more than 35,000 incorporated associations in Victoria. They are clubs or community groups, operating not for profit, whose members have decided to give their organisation a formal legal structure. You can recognise an incorporated association by the word ‘Incorporated’ or the abbreviation ‘Inc.’ after its name.
When a club or community group incorporates, it becomes a ‘legal person’ – that is, a legal entity that stays the same even if its members change. It can enter into contracts in its own name; for example, to borrow money or buy equipment. This protects the individual members of the association from legal liabilities.
Victorian incorporated associations are registered with Consumer Affairs Victoria under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981.
Responsibilities of an incorporated association are;
Display an association name
An association’s name, including the word ‘Incorporated’ or the abbreviation ‘Inc.’, must appear on all its notices, advertisements, publications and business documents.
Financial year
An incorporated association’s first financial year begins on the date the association is incorporated. It ends on 30 June unless the association’s rules specify a different date.
After this, the association’s financial year defaults to a 12-month period.
An incorporated association can determine the end date or the length of its financial year by passing a special resolution and changing its rules. The maximum length of an incorporated association’s financial year is 18 months.
Management committee
The management committee looks after the affairs of the incorporated association and has statutory responsibilities under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981. There are penalties for breaching these responsibilities.
Management committee members must:
- ensure an annual general meeting is held within five months of the end of the association’s financial year
- submit a financial statement that covers the full financial year to members at the annual general meeting
- appoint a new public officer within 14 days, if the position becomes vacant
- return all documents that belong to the incorporated association within 28 days of ceasing to be a committee member.
Members have a duty to act in the best interests of the incorporated association and to not take advantage of their position. They must not make use of their position (or information acquired because of their position) to:
- gain any financial benefit for themselves or any other person
- harm the association.
Public officer
The management committee must appoint a public officer, who is the main point of contact between the association and Consumer Affairs Victoria. The public officer must be at least 18 years old and reside in Victoria.
The public officer is responsible for doing the following things on behalf of the association:
- lodging an annual statement with the Registrar (the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria) within a month after the annual general meeting
- notifying the Registrar of:
- a change to the incorporated association’s registered address within 14 days
- their appointment as public officer or any changes to their details
- a special resolution to wind up the association or distribute its assets.
- applying to the Registrar to:
- alter the association's statement of purposes or rules
- change the association's name.
If the position of public officer becomes vacant, the management committee must fill the vacancy within 14 days. The new public officer must notify Consumer Affairs Victoria within 14 days of their appointment by completing and submitting a Change of Association Details form.
Accounting and auditing
Incorporated associations must maintain adequate and accurate accounting records of their financial transactions. These records must be kept for seven years.
Prescribed associations – accounting and auditing requirements
A ‘prescribed association’ is an incorporated association with annual gross revenue of more than $200,000 or assets of more than $500,000.
Prescribed associations must prepare their financial statements in accordance with Australian Equivalents to International Financial Reporting Standards (AIFRS). These are issued by the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB).
Prescribed associations must have their accounts audited at the end of their financial year by either:
- a registered company auditor or firm or registered company auditor
- a member of CPA Australia or the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, or
- someone approved by the Registrar of Incorporated Associations for this purpose; for example, a member of the National Institute of Accountants who holds Professional National Accountant status.
The auditor must not be:
- a member of the incorporated association’s management committee
- an employer or an employee of a member of the committee
- a member of the same partnership as a member of the committee
- an employee of the incorporated association.
An association can only remove its auditor by a resolution passed at a general meeting. Advance notice of at least two months of the proposed resolution must be given to all members, the auditor and the Registrar.
Annual General Meeting
Incorporated associations must hold an annual general meeting (AGM) each calendar year.
The first AGM can be held at any time in the 18 months following incorporation. The second and any subsequent AGM must be held within the five months following the end of the incorporated association’s financial year.
At the AGM, the association must submit to its members a financial statement that gives a true and fair view of the association’s financial position during and at the end of its last financial year. The statement must detail:
- the income and expenditure of the association during its last financial year
- the assets and liabilities of the association at the end of its last financial year (a balance sheet)
- any mortgages, charges and securities affecting any of the property of the association at the end of its last financial year
- for each trust of which the association was a trustee during all or part of the last financial year:
- the income and expenditure of the trust
- the assets and liabilities of the trust
- any mortgages, charges and securities affecting any of the property of the trust.
- any trust held on behalf of the association by a person or body other than the association, in which funds or assets of the association are placed.
Apply for an extension of time to hold an annual general meeting
If there are exceptional circumstances that prevent your association from holding its AGM by the due date, you can apply to the Registrar for an extension of time by either:
- lodging an Application for Extension of Time
or
- applying online for an extension of time at the Consumer Affairs Victoria Transaction website.
Extensions of time are subject to Registrar approval.
Annual statement
Within a month after the annual general meeting, the public officer must lodge an annual statement with the Registrar, along with the prescribed fee.
The annual statement must include all the elements required in a financial statement, as described above, plus (for prescribed associations) a copy of the auditor's report and a cash flow statement.
Failure to lodge this statement is an offence under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 and can result in the association, the public officer and each member of the committee being liable for a penalty.
Apply for an extension of time to lodge an annual statement
If there are exceptional circumstances that prevent your association from lodging its annual statement by the due date, you can apply to the Registrar for an extension of time by either:
- lodging an Application for Extension of Time
or
- applying online for an extension of time at the Consumer Affairs Victoria Transaction website.
Extensions of time are subject to Registrar approval.
Executive Committee | East Malvern Junior Football Club