Hansard debates

Tim RICHARDSON (Mordialloc – Minister for Local Government, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Renters) (11:17): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I ask that my second-reading speech be incorporated into Hansard.

Incorporated speech as follows:

This Bill will strengthen the framework governing not-for-profit associations operating in Victoria by amending the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (AIRA). Specifically, it ensures that the benefits and legitimacy of incorporation are restricted to genuine, lawful community organisations, while explicitly preventing associations with industrial relations, terrorism and hate-motivated purposes from incorporating, or remaining incorporated, under that Act.

The AIRA establishes a robust scheme for incorporating associations with lawful not-for-profit purposes. Currently, the framework supports around 45,000 associations across the state, providing essential governance and financial accountability safeguards to these associations. The scheme is administered by the Registrar of Incorporated Associations (the Registrar).

Incorporation under the AIRA provides significant legal and practical benefits. These include:

• limited legal liability for members and volunteers

• a clear, structured governance framework under the Model Rules or customised Rules

• the ability to enter into contracts and hold property, and

• the ability to undertake lawful fundraising arrangements.

Registration (or incorporation) offers legitimacy to a group, delivering a flexible framework that caters to a diverse range of community endeavours, from local sport clubs, cultural groups to charitable networks and neighbourhood services.

The AIRA is intended to support associations with appropriate community purposes. Groups whose purpose or activities undermine our democratic values, foster social division, or pose public safety risks should not be afforded the statutory protections conferred by incorporation.

Further, other associations pursue objectives that, while lawful and important, are better suited to specialised regulatory frameworks, such as laws that govern industrial relations.

This Bill will establish a clear, more effective statutory scheme to identify and exclude associations whose objectives are either fundamentally incompatible with the objectives of the AIRA, or those that should be governed by another specialised regulatory scheme.

The Bill will prevent terrorist organisations and hate groups from registering, or remaining registered, as incorporated associations

Across Australia, governments are taking action to address increasing reports of vilification, hate crimes, and extremist violence. The Bill forms part of Victoria’s broader commitment to social cohesion by ensuring Victorian incorporated associations law cannot be used to shield or legitimise groups that foster vilification or endanger the public.

Earlier this year, the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) was amended to provide for organisations to be listed as prohibited hate groups, supplementing existing powers in respect to terrorist organisations. A declaration of an organisation as a specified terrorist organisation or a prohibited hate group is the outcome of a rigorous process by which the Minister for Home Affairs forms the opinion that the organisation engages in, prepares, plans, assists, or advocates for a terrorist act or conduct constituting a hate crime, and that listing the organisation is reasonably necessary to protect the community from harm.

The Bill requires the Registrar to refuse an application for registration or direct an incorporated association to wind up its operations where it has been listed as a prohibited hate group or listed terrorist organisation under Commonwealth laws.

In addition, the Bill strengthens and clarifies the Registrar’s discretionary powers. The Registrar will be empowered to refuse registration if doing so is in the public interest. This is consistent with the Registrar’s existing power to direct an association to wind up on public interest grounds. In exercising these discretionary powers, the Registrar must consider the effect or likely effect of the association’s purposes and conduct on the public, including whether the effect or likely effect on a person or group of persons is because of a protected attribute under section 102B of the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (EO Act).

These measures ensure that the groups operating contrary to the public interest cannot use incorporation under the AIRA to advance harmful agendas, thereby maintaining public confidence in the operation of that Act and the broader not-for-profit sector.

Clarifying jurisdiction boundaries for industrial relations bodies

In Victoria, workplace relations are generally governed under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 (Cth) (FWRO Act). Registration as a trade union under the Commonwealth framework provides organisations with statutory rights to represent their members’ industrial relations interests, and ensures they are subject to the regulatory oversight of the Fair Work Commission.

In contrast, state incorporation under the AIRA does not, and cannot, confer these federal industrial rights. Currently, certain entities incorporated under the AIRA pursue an industrial relations purpose without holding registration under the FWRO Act. This creates regulatory risk: individuals joining these state incorporated bodies may mistakenly believe they are accessing full statutory industrial protections and genuine lawful representation in workplace disputes.

To address this risk, the Bill introduces a clear statutory delineation between genuine industry relations organisations with rights under Commonwealth laws to represent members in industrial matters, and state level not-for-profit community associations.

The Bill achieves this by introducing a definition of “industrial relations purpose”, meaning an association or registrable body with a purpose of furthering, protecting or representing the industrial relations interests of its members. The Registrar will be required to refuse to register new associations or registrable bodies and issue a certificate to wind up an existing incorporated association under the Act if:

• they have an industrial relations purpose;

• if they are the type of association that the Registrar is satisfied may apply for registration under the FWRO; and

• they are not an exempt association.

In addition, if an association has an active application for registration under the FWRO Act made before 1 ‍July 2026, the Registrar will not take any action pending the outcome of the application.

Recognising that certain community or professional entities may risk being captured under a broad definition of ‘industrial relations purpose’, even if they are unable to register under the FWRO Act and are not primarily formed to pursue those objectives, the Bill introduces a regulation-making power to exempt associations with an industrial relations purpose from refusal of registration or mandatory winding up. These regulations are intended to protect entities that might otherwise fall within scope, including social or cultural groups affiliated with trade unions (such as union choirs), or professional associations established primarily for educational or social networking purposes that incidentally engage in member support.

Decisions by the Registrar to refuse an application to register as an incorporated association will continue to be reviewable by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). However, decisions by the Registrar to refuse to register a registrable body with an industrial relations purpose will instead be reviewable by the Supreme Court, which is the appropriate jurisdiction for complex issues regarding incorporated bodies. In addition, decisions to wind up an incorporated association will continue to be reviewable by the Supreme Court.

Importantly, under the AIRA, the Registrar may only direct an incorporated association to wind up its operations after requesting the association to show cause why it should not be wound up. This process enables legitimate associations, for example organisations with a mix of industrial relations and other social or charitable purposes, to modify their purpose and activities to ensure they do not come within scope of associations excluded from the AIRA.

These reforms will encourage associations with industrial relations purposes into more appropriate alternative frameworks and avoid confusion for their members.

The Bill will empower the Registrar to assess eligibility for registration

To support the effective administration of the reforms, the Bill will empower the Registrar to request information about an applicant or an incorporated association’s purposes and conduct.

If the Registrar requests this information as part of an application to register and it is not provided within 14 ‍days, the Registrar will be permitted to refuse that application.

Together, the reforms in this Bill will protect the integrity of the regulatory framework for incorporated associations by ensuring that the protections and benefits of incorporation are extended only to associations with appropriate purposes.

I commend the Bill to the House.