Setting up your organisation

Before setting up a not-for-profit organisation in Victoria, your group is advised to:

• agree that the group will operate on a not-for-profit basis;
• decide whether or not the group should incorporate at this stage; and
• if the group is going to incorporate, decide which incorporated legal structure would best suit the group's aims and activities.

These are important steps to take before you set up a new incorporated organisation. For more information about each of these steps, see Getting started. Setting up in a legal structure that is not right for the aims and activities of your organisation can be a costly process, and can mean your group will quickly run into legal difficulties when it tries to carry out its activities.

Once your organisation as decided which is the right incorporated structure for you (an issues about which you may want to seek specific legal advice), the next step is to set up your organisation in the way required by the relevant legislation (that is the Act of Parliament and Regulations) that govern the incorporated legal structure you have chosen.

In this section, we have provided information and links to relevant resources about incorporating a not-for-profit group in different legal structures. You should note that the information on this website is intended as a guide only, and is not legal advice. Your organisation is advised to seek legal advice on specific issues.

• setting up an incorporated association under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Vic);
• setting up a company limited by guarantee under the Corporations Act 2001(Cth);
• setting up an indigenous corporation under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2006 (Cth);
• setting up a co-operative  under the Co-operatives Act 1996 (Vic); and
• if your group has decided that (at least at this stage) it will not incorporate, there is a section for legal information about setting up an unincorporated group.