If you want your organisation to have a legal status, you have a number of options - you can become

• a co-operative society.

• a company limited by guarantee.

• an incorporated association or society under the Associations Incorporation Act 1985.

• an incorporated association or council under the Commonwealth Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976.

All of these forms have their advantages and disadvantages. For smaller organisations, the choice is generally between company status and incorporation. Limited companies are highly regulated; incorporated associations are lightly regulated. Setting up a company is complicated and expensive; incorporating as an association is comparatively cheap and simple. Unless your organisation is very big indeed, or carries on a lot of business, your best option will probably be to become an incorporated association.

Incorporating is not the same thing as registering as a charity or getting entitlement to tax exemption or obtaining permission to raise funds from the public. All those have to be applied for separately.