ASSOCIATIONS INCORPORATION ACT 1985 - SECT 35
ASSOCIATIONS INCORPORATION ACT 1985 - SECT 35
(1) A
prescribed association must keep its accounting records in such a manner as
will enable—
(a) the
preparation from time to time of accounts that present fairly the results of
the operations of the association; and
(b) the
accounts of the association to be conveniently and properly audited in
accordance with this Division.
Maximum penalty: $5 000.
(2) A prescribed
association must, after the end of a financial year of the association—
(a)
cause accounts in respect of the financial year to be prepared; and
(b)
cause the accounts to be audited by a registered company auditor, a firm of
registered company auditors, a person who is a member of the Australian
Society of Certified Practising Accountants or The Institute of Chartered
Accountants in Australia or such other person who may be approved by the
Commission as an auditor of the accounts of the association for the purposes
of this Division; and
(c)
cause to be attached to the accounts, before the auditor reports on the
accounts, a statement made in accordance with a resolution of the committee of
the association and signed by two or more members of the committee—
(i)
stating whether or not—
(A) the accounts present fairly the results
of the operations of the association for the financial year and the state of
affairs of the association as at the end of the financial year; and
(B) the committee has reasonable grounds to
believe that the association will be able to pay its debts as and when they
fall due; and
(ii)
giving particulars—
(A) of any body corporate that is a
subsidiary of the association within the meaning of section 46 of the
Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth; and
(B) of any trust of which the association
is a trustee.
Maximum penalty: $5 000.
(3) A
prescribed association will not be taken to have complied with
subsection (2) unless the accounts prepared for a financial year are
submitted to the auditor in sufficient time to enable the auditor to audit the
accounts and furnish a report in respect of the accounts in accordance with
section 37(3).
(4) A person who
is—
(a) an
officer; or
(b) a
partner, employer or employee of an officer; or
(ba) an
employee; or
(c) a
partner or employee of an employee,
of a prescribed association, may not be appointed as auditor of the accounts
of the association for the purposes of this section.
(5) The committee of a
prescribed association must cause a report of the committee to be made in
accordance with a resolution of the committee and signed by two or more
members of the committee, stating in relation to each officer of the
association—
(a)
whether or not, during the financial year to which the accounts relate—
(i)
the officer; or
(ii)
a firm of which the officer is a member; or
(iii)
a body corporate in which the officer has a substantial
financial interest,
has received or become entitled to receive a benefit as a result of a contract
between the officer, firm or body corporate and the association, and if so the
general nature of the benefit;
(b)
whether or not, during the financial year to which the accounts relate, the
officer has received directly or indirectly from the association any payment
or other benefit of a pecuniary value, and if so the general nature and extent
of that benefit.
(6) The committee of a
prescribed association that has members must cause—
(a) the
audited accounts including the statement prepared in accordance with
subsection (2)(c); and
(b) the
auditor's report on those accounts; and
(c) the
report of the committee prepared in accordance with subsection (5),
to be laid before the members of the association at the annual general meeting
of the association or, if an annual general meeting is not to be held, within
five months of the end of the financial year to which the accounts relate.
(7) A member of the
committee of an association who fails to take all reasonable steps to comply
with or secure compliance with this section is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty:
(a) if
the offence is committed with intent to deceive or defraud the association,
creditors of the association or creditors of any other person or for any
fraudulent purpose—$20 000 or imprisonment for four years; or
(b) in
any other case—$5 000.