Quoting Lev Lafayette (lev@levlafayette.com):
Unincorporated associations can own property. (Provably. I've already covered this.)
Not here they can't.
So, I sell a biscuit to you and Russell Coker for AUS$1, naming you co-owners as the Melbourne Twins. There are witnesses to my sale. It is formalised, in fact, by a written contract, as biscuit sales are no light matter.
A year later, I haul you into court seeking recovery of my (now rather stale) biscuit, asserting that I am still the owner of said carbohydrates because the Melbourne Twins are not a legally valid purchaser. You're saying I would prevail?
Anyway, no, you are mistaken, and I've just looked up caselaw on the matter. What _is_ true, both in Australia and (to my knowledge) every other jurisdiction based on English common law, an unincorporated association is not a juristic entity, and is treated as the aggregate of all its members at any given time. However, in no way does it follow that they cannot own property. They can and do all the time. Watson v J & AG Johnson Limited (1936) 55 CLR 63 is one case you will want to read, which among other things affirmed and described the ownership of Loxton Club, Loxton, SA.
Lev/Rick - please consult a lawyer. It seems that one of you is giving bad/wrong legal information and advice... I don't know which one as I'm not a lawyer. James