Quoting Chris Samuel (chris@csamuel.org):
On 03/09/13 19:28, Rick Moen wrote:
Unincorporated associations can own property.
There are a number of HPC centres and eResearch organisations around Australia that are UJVs (Unincorporated Joint Ventures) and as a result of them not being able to own property all "their" assets are actually owned by one (or more) of the members on their behalf.
It is certainly more convenient in many cases for a member (or a formal trustee) to hold the association's property, but that doesn't mean the association is blocked from doing so by any impossibility.
Consumer Affairs Victoria says (regarding the initial 1981 act):
http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/library/publications/resources-and-education/...
# The introduction of the Act addressed many of the difficulties faced # by unincorporated associations by providing a relatively simple # mechanism of incorporation which conferred the benefits of limited # liability of members, perpetual succession, ability to enter into # contracts, and power to acquire, hold and dispose of property.
As above.
The SA govt says:
http://www.lawhandbook.sa.gov.au/ch08s02.php
# As an unincorporated association has no legal identity, it # cannot hold assets in its own name. It must appoint individuals # as trustees, who own the assets but hold them for the benefit of # the association. The trustees are bound by the Trustee Act 1936 (SA).
This is mistaken. (Yes, shocking as it might seem, government officials sometimes say things that turn out not to be the case.) This is a (very frequent) miscontruing of the _real_ and relevant fact that an unincorporated association is not a juristic entity, i.e., it is not a legal _person_ with standing in court. But that merely means that it owns property through that ownership being attributed in a formal sense (by courts) to the aggregate of its members.
NSW says similar (though not explicitly mentioning assets):
http://www.legalanswers.sl.nsw.gov.au/guides/law_handbook/pdf/Ch9_community_...
# Unless a community organisation takes the step of incorporating, # it is simply a group of people doing something together, with no # legal identity apart from that of its individual members.
This agree with what I said.
WA says:
http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/associationsguide/Content/01_Introduction/1.0_...
# There are several significant advantages. One advantage is that # the individual members limit their exposure to personal legal # liability. Bank accounts can be opened in the name of the # association, it can apply for government grants and it can hold # property.
Again, they are mistaken. (Don't take my word for it. Read the many Australian judges' legal opinions I've pointed to upthread.) I am sure that it may be difficult as a pragmatic matter to convince a bank to open a deposit account for an unincorporated association, as they might simply refuse on grounds of too much hassle. I doubt that any legal concern bars them from doing so. Please note: A classic general partnership is a particular limiting case of an unincorporated association (where the number of members is a small value of n and relatively stable[1]). I hope you would not assert that partnership are somehow unable to own property. [1] Many hours of my lift got lost to business law classes covering the mechanisms by which partnerships technically dissolve and instantly re-form any time a partner enters or leaves. If you never went through that, you didn't miss much.