Mate for NSW you need to go to the NSW department of fair trading and look in the associations and clubs area it has all the information you need. They have several fact sheets and helpful booklets that you can download. The basic steps are
1) You need to hold a public meeting of interested people. I think the minimum required is 10 (don't hold me to that)
2) At that meeting you need to do several thing
a) Come up with a name that is going to be used as the incorporated name (there are certain restrictions here of good taste).
You can also check online that the name you want is available, obviously the name must be unique.
b) Either use the standard constitution suggested or come up with one that satisfies the 2009 ACT. Most people take the
standard constitution and modify it to fit the clubs requirements. The Department does not check the constitution to ensure
it is a good document they just register it so be careful here.
c) Elect a committee as required by the constitution.
d) appoint a public officer (usually the secretary).
3) lodge the forms required to incorporate the new body along with a small fee ($44 but again don't hold me to that).
Now if the club is already incorporated and just wants to change their name or some other part of the constitution that is a much simpler matter unless you have other reasons or have just chosen to wind up one club and start afresh.
Basically get onto the NSW department of fair trading
http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/ftw/Cooperatives_and_associations.page?There are two types of Club or Association
Now once you are incorporated this offers some protection to the members and limits the individual members liability. Once the club or association is registered and incorporated you can then apply for affiliation with MNSW. MNSW through MA offer a very cheap and effective way to cover the office bearers of the club and the members to protect them from litigation if it all goes pear shaded. MNSW will not affiliate your club until it is incorporated. This protects them.
My only advice is
1) never ever be a member of a club or association that is not incorporated with your states department.
2) Make sure the club follows the requirements of incorporation so that all members are protected. This includes annual returns.
Most people don't realise that if you are a member of a club in NSW and it is not incorporated under the NSW Department of Fair Trading then your personal assets along with all the other members assets can be at risk for the clubs actions eg if the club has a BBQ for members and their families and someone gets food poisoning and tragically is permanently ill so they litigate against the club. If the club is incorporated then almost exclusively all members own assets are protected and only the clubs assets are at risk. This is not the case if the club is not incorporated. It is not just Committee members who have their assets at risk it is all members of the association / club.
