Kia ora koutou,
First, please accept our apologies for cancelling the Special General Meeting that had been scheduled for Monday 9 March. At that time, the revised draft of the new ARANZ Constitution was not quite ready for circulation to members. We appreciate your patience while Council completed this important work to ensure the new ARANZ Constitution is now ready for a member vote.
This Special General Meeting has been called under the transitional provisions in Schedule 1 of the Incorporated Societies Act 2022, which allow existing incorporated societies to amend their rules—such as notice periods and voting thresholds—for the purpose of enabling re-registration under the new Act.
This meeting has therefore been scheduled with a shorter notice period than that specified in the current ARANZ Constitution in order to enable the Association to meet the statutory re-registration deadline.
Meeting Details
Date: Monday 30 March 2026
Time: 12-1pm (noon, midday)
Location / online link: [coming soon]
Proposed New Constitution
The purpose of this meeting is to consider and vote on adopting a new constitution for ARANZ, which is required for the Association to re-register under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022.
All existing incorporated societies in Aotearoa New Zealand must re-register under the new Act by early April 2026. To do this, ARANZ must adopt a constitution that complies with the updated legislation.
The proposed new constitution has been developed by Council to ensure that ARANZ meets the governance and legal requirements of the new Act while continuing to support the purposes and activities of the Association.
With this notice, you will find the proposed ARANZ Constitution (2026) here.
This amended constitution will look familiar to you, as we have reverted to our 2020 constitution, and have simply made the changes necessary to comply with the new Act. The linked document shows the changes inline throughout the document—with strikethrough of deleted clauses, highlighted new clauses and text, and straightforward narrations to explain the changes.
Voting Arrangements
The central purpose of the meeting will be a member vote on the following resolution:
“That the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand adopt the proposed ARANZ Constitution 2026 for the purposes of re-registration under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022.”
During the transition to the new legislation, Schedule 1, clauses 9 and 10 of the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 allows existing societies to amend their rules to comply with the Act by a majority vote at a general meeting, despite anything in their current rules to the contrary.
This means the proposed constitution can be adopted if it receives a simple majority of votes cast by members entitled to vote at the meeting.
Your participation in this meeting is very important. Without adopting a new constitution, ARANZ would be unable to complete its re-registration under the new Act—and will be de-registered as an association.
Meeting Attendance and Voting
Council encourages all members to review the draft constitution and attend the meeting to participate in the discussion and vote. If you cannot attend, the Council encourages you to cast a ‘postal’ vote by email to the Secretary at secretary@aranz.org.nz, or to appoint a proxy to vote on your behalf at the meeting—before 11am on Monday 30 March.
Ngā mihi nui,
Richard Foy
President
Archives and Records Association of New Zealand Te Huinga Mahara
