Duties of Committee Members under the Associations Incorporation Acts

Australia has state based statutory regimes, known as the Associations Incorporation Acts, for the regulation of non-profit associations. Each state regulates the duties of committee members differently, ranging from partial codification of their duties to total reliance upon the general law. Committee members are generally held to a company director standard. This article argues that committee members of associations with an annual turnover less than A$1 000 000 should be held to a lower standard than company directors. It sets out a principled basis for determining the appropriate level of regulation for committee members by examining committee composition and the reasonable expectations of committee members.