Post by fish on Nov 28, 2023 10:49:14 GMT 12
www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/503406/fears-that-sports-clubs-will-buckle-under-weight-of-new-legislation
If you're on the committee of your local sports club and you think running a club is hard enough already, it's about to get harder.
Incorporated community sport organisations (ICSOs) have until the April 2026 to re-register under the new Incorporated Societies Act 2022, or face involuntary dissolution.
Chair of the New Zealand Amateur Sport Association, Gordon Noble-Campbell, said the Act imposed more obligations on volunteers and will push more clubs into extinction.
"And that is real threat to the well-being and the fabric of community sport, which New Zealand can't afford to let happen," Noble-Campbell said.
The Association lobbied the previous government about the implications of the new legislation on volunteer-led sports clubs, but it seems to have mostly fallen on deaf ears.
It has run several seminars around the country explaining to people their obligations under the Act, which seems to have caught most off-guard.
The new legislation caters for big organisations with millions of dollars and hundreds of employees like the New Zealand Rugby Union but Noble-Campbell said it was not fit for purpose for small volunteer-led not for profit organisations.
"When you talk about the Ōkato Tennis Club for example, they simply don't have the capability to be able to deal with the new law, which effectively creates a corporate type compliance environment.
"People are saying that they don't think they've got the knowledge and skills to be able to cope with the changes required."
If you're on the committee of your local sports club and you think running a club is hard enough already, it's about to get harder.
Incorporated community sport organisations (ICSOs) have until the April 2026 to re-register under the new Incorporated Societies Act 2022, or face involuntary dissolution.
Chair of the New Zealand Amateur Sport Association, Gordon Noble-Campbell, said the Act imposed more obligations on volunteers and will push more clubs into extinction.
"And that is real threat to the well-being and the fabric of community sport, which New Zealand can't afford to let happen," Noble-Campbell said.
The Association lobbied the previous government about the implications of the new legislation on volunteer-led sports clubs, but it seems to have mostly fallen on deaf ears.
It has run several seminars around the country explaining to people their obligations under the Act, which seems to have caught most off-guard.
The new legislation caters for big organisations with millions of dollars and hundreds of employees like the New Zealand Rugby Union but Noble-Campbell said it was not fit for purpose for small volunteer-led not for profit organisations.
"When you talk about the Ōkato Tennis Club for example, they simply don't have the capability to be able to deal with the new law, which effectively creates a corporate type compliance environment.
"People are saying that they don't think they've got the knowledge and skills to be able to cope with the changes required."
