Role of the public officer

Incorporated associations, through their committee must appoint a public officer. 

A public officer is:

• the official point of contact for an incorporated association, and
• one of the authorised signatories.

Who can be a public officer

A public officer can be:

• an ordinary member, or
• a person outside the incorporated association. 

The public officer must be over 18 and reside in New South Wales. An association's incorporation may be cancelled if it does not have a public officer. It may also be cancelled if its public officer does not comply with these requirements.

The responsibilities of the public officer

The public officer is responsible for:

• notifying NSW Fair Trading of any change in the incorporated association's address within 28 days
• collecting all incorporated association documents from former committee members, then delivering them to the new committee member
• returning all incorporated association documents to a committee member within 14 days of vacating office
• acting as the official contact for the incorporated association, including, receiving documents served on the incorporated association and notifying the committee
• the custody of any documents as required by the constitution.

An official address for an incorporated association

Every incorporated association must have an official address. The official address must be an address in NSW where documents can be served to the association by post.

The official address cannot be a post office box.

The public officer must advise NSW Fair Trading of a change of address within 28 days by completing a Form A9 Notice of appointment of public officer and Notice of change of association address.

Authorised signatory

The public officer is automatically one of the incorporated association's authorised signatories. However, the public officer is not automatically a signatory to the incorporated association's bank account.

See management committee obligations for additional information on authorised signatories.

Appointing and removing a public officer

The person nominated as the public officer on the application for incorporation will be the incorporated association's first public officer. The committee must fill any vacancy in the position of public officer within 28 days.

A public officer will vacate the position if they:

• die
• resign in writing to the committee
• are removed from office by the passing of a resolution at a general meeting
• become bankrupt
• become a mentally incapacitated person
• cease to be a resident of NSW, or
• meet any circumstances as provided for in the constitution.

The new public officer must notify NSW Fair Trading within 28 days of the new appointment by completing a Form A9 Notice of appointment of public officer and Notice of change of association address.