Register a new corporation

Steps to register a corporation

Follow these steps to make sure you have everything you need to lodge your application.

1. Decide who will be involved  
2. Prepare your rule book
3. Hold a pre-incorporation meeting
4. Lodge your application 

Step 1: Decide who will be involved  

Members

A corporation must have at least 5 members. You can apply for an exemption to have less than 5 (for example, as a sole trader).

These are the rules for members under the CATSI Act:

• All must be at least 15 years old
• Most members must be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples
• Members must give their consent in writing.

You can add your own rules to your rule book about membership. For example, that members live in a particular Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community.

To seek consent, use a membership application form. You must keep a copy of this consent.

Record your list of members in a register of members and former members. You can use our template or create your own. The template contains instructions on how to use it and upload the list to our website.

You must provide an updated list of members to us at least once a year.

Directors

The corporation must have at least 3 directors (12 directors at most). You can apply for an exemption to have more or fewer directors.

Under the CATSI Act directors must:  

• be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander  
• be members of the corporation  
• not be employees of the corporation
• usually live in Australia.

Your rule book can make some adjustments to these rules, such as:

• having directors who aren’t members
• having non-Indigenous directors (but you must still have a majority of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander directors).

Secretary or contact person

Large corporations must have a secretary.

Small and medium corporations have a contact person.

Step 2: Prepare your proposed rule book

Every corporation must have a set of internal governance rules. 

Your corporation rule book guides how the corporation is governed. Some rules come from the CATSI Act and some you can write yourself.

The rule book is an agreement between members and directors about how the corporation will run. It must be approved by your members.

Find templates and more information to create your rule book.

Step 3: Meet the pre-incorporation requirement

Before you become incorporated, you must show that at least 75% of people who will become members have agreed:

• to apply for registration
• to approve the rule book
• that all replaceable rules from the CATSI Act (and which aren’t covered in your rule book) will apply to the corporation
• who the directors will be
• who the contact person or secretary will be.

When you give us evidence, it could be as:

• a document listing the above points that is signed by at least 75% of the proposed members
• minutes from a pre-incorporation meeting with details of the resolution and a declaration from the chairperson that it was passed by at least 75% of the votes.

Find out more about resolutions and meeting minutes.