New South Wales Consolidated Acts

CO-OPERATIVES ACT 1992 - SECT 20

20 Registration of co-operative

(cf Vic Act s 20)

(1) When an application is made under this Division for registration of a proposed co-operative, the Registrar must register the co-operative and its rules if satisfied that the requirements for registration of the co-operative have been met.

(2) The requirements for registration of a co-operative under this Division are as follows:

(a) the proposed rules of the proposed co-operative must be the rules approved by the Registrar under section 18, and

(b) the requirements of this Act and the regulations must have been complied with in respect of the proposed co-operative and compliance must be likely to continue, and

(c) the proposed co-operative must be designed to function in accordance with the co-operative principles or, if it is not designed to function entirely in accordance with the co-operative principles, the Registrar must be satisfied that there are special reasons why the co-operative should be registered under this Act, and

(d) there must be no reasonable cause for refusing registration of the proposed co-operative.

(3) If the Registrar is not satisfied that the requirements for registration of the co-operative have been met, the Registrar is to:

(a) refuse registration of the co-operative, or

(b) refer the application to the Council for its recommendation.

(4) If the Registrar refuses registration of the co-operative, the applicants for registration may request the Registrar to refer the application to the Council and the Registrar must comply with such a request. A request made by or on behalf of a majority of the persons elected as referred to in section 16 (2) (d) (the persons to be proposed as the first directors of the co-operative) is taken to have been made by the applicants for registration.

(5) If the application is referred to the Council, the Council must either recommend registration or recommend refusal of registration but may only recommend refusal if of the opinion that:

(a) the requirements for registration of the co-operative have not been met, or

(b) the proposed co-operative would not be a genuine co-operative, or

(c) the proposed co-operative is not designed or intended to serve fairly the interests of its members and prospective members.

(6) The Registrar is required to comply with the Council’s recommendation.