Our Journey, Updating the CNA

Constitution!

Here’s CNA’s examples of how we made our constitutional changes as clear as possible for our voting membership. 
Important Disclaimer: The following is NOT legal advice. It is what CNA did with it’s ‘fit for OUR purpose’ constitution, including seeking legal advice. 

1. The ‘Comparison Constitution’ 

  1. CNA created a side-by-side version so you could easily compare the two versions. If only they’d done this with Te Tiriti! 

  2. To be honest, this was a brutal exercise in formatting (IYKYK!), and not for the faint hearted. If we were just making one or two changes, I would have not gone to such a length. But, because this was a major overhaul, it was important that CNA provide absolute clarity to each and every change. 

  3. By making the changes a different colour, it’s very easy to see the changes. Just make sure that, for the Low Vision and Blind of us, to make sure it’s a good contrast colour. 

CNA ‘Comparison Constitution’

2. The Remits

  1. A Remit is ‘an item referred to someone for consideration’ or in this case the same thing as a motion to the meeting stating what you want to do. 

  2. It’s very important to use plain language and to be as transparent as possible. 

  3. You can see we have a ‘rationale’ explaining the intended purpose of each remit. 

  4. Remits 1 & 2 lets us correct spelling, formatting, numbering all in one go. You might as well use this opportunity to do a proofing on your document. 

View CNA Remits

3. The Finished Constitution. 

  • We budgeted an hour for this meeting, but because of our clear communication and easy to read documents we got through it all in under 40 minutes. 

  • Not to say we didn’t have some excellent eyes point out 3 misspellings that had eluded all the people who had looked at it for a very long time! Always be appreciative of these people for making your work better, after all, once it’s filed, its filed. 

  • We incorporated those changes on the day, as being under the umbrella of Remit 2. 

Example Finished Constitution

Nearly there,

It's not quite over!

Once it’s voted in, remember the new constitution only supersedes your current document when the new Constitution is filed with the NZ Companies office.
Here’s what you need for that: 

1. Identify Changes

A copy of the new constitution with the changes clearly marked. The above copy of CNA’s new constitution is the one that shows this with yellow highlighting. 

2. Signatures

You’ll also see that you need 3 signatures of Members. These do not need to be Officers on your governing body, but, in our case, a Member Organisation authorised representative. 

3. Governing Body

You’ll need your sign info to get into the Companies Office; you’ll also need the full names (including the middle names) of all the members of your governing body. 


We’d also suggest you take the time to look at your details on the Incorporated Societies Register and on the Charity Services Registers (whichever is relevant) to make sure you’re all up to date with officers, addresses, etc. The best bit is that there is no charge for this process – outside of a lot of mahi for your organisational mana! Good Luck! 

NZ Companies Office
Constitution Builder!

This is a fantastic build-it-yourself, step by step guide that will let you create a draft document for writing or revising your society's rules.


This is not a substitute for legal advice, but a way to get started on your changes.

Constitution Builder
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