Membership records

Learn more about becoming a member and deciding membership applications.

Member registers

Your register of current and former members says who the corporation’s members are and were. A corporation must know who its members are at all times. Members names go onto the:

• register of members 
• register of former members.

If a person’s name isn’t on the register of members, they are not a member of the corporation. 

Only people on the register of members can:

• take part in members' meetings 
• receive corporation notices and information for members. 

Keep these registers: 

• at the corporation’s registered office (for large corporations) 
• at a document access address (for small or medium corporations). 

As part of annual reporting to ORIC, a corporation must provide a list of members from the register.

Register of members

The register of members should include this information:

• First name and last name, and other names the members is or was known by
• Postal address
• The date the member’s name was added to the register
• If the member is not an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person, if your corporation allows non-First Nations members.

Register of former members

The register of former members must include the following information about each former member:

• First name and last name, and other names the members is or was known by
• Postal address
• The date the person stopped being a member.

Accessing the registers

Anyone can inspect the member registers or ask for a copy at any time. 

Corporations cannot charge a member a fee to look at the registers. 

If you keep the registers on a computer, you can:

• allow access by computer 
• provide a hard copy. 

You must make the member register available at every annual general meeting (AGM). 

Keeping the registers up to date

Ask all members at the AGM to check their name, address and other details. 

It’s best to do this before the meeting starts. Have the register at the door so it’s easy for members coming into the meeting to confirm that:

• they are on the register of members
• the information recorded is correct.

List of members

A ‘list of members’ is a copy of the register of members at a point in time. 

You must lodge the list of members as part of your general report each year.

We publish this to the Register of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations.

You can also contact us to update your list by emailing info@oric.gov.au 

Misuse of member information

Information in the register and on membership applications is for valid purposes only. 

It is a criminal offence to use this information for reasons that are not relevant or approved by the corporation. For example, to send marketing materials.