OGHT Constitution Change
Current 2021 OGHT Constitution Draft 2025 OGHT Constitution
Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust (OGHT) members are asked to review the Draft 2025 OGHT Constitution linked above and consider its contents.
At the OGHT AGM of October 2025 this Constitution will be voted on by members with the intention of replacing our current 2021 OGHT Constitution. Your feedback is welcome to ensure we have a solid 'fit for purpose' set of rules to guide us in our future endeavours. The background to why we need to take this step, and how we are going about it is described below.
Feedback should be emailed to Rex Johnson at
Look back here occassionaly to see a summary of any discussion that may arise.
Rex Johnson
OGHT Vice President
Background Information
by OGHT President Warwick Hawker
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Why Change The OGHT Constituition?
The Incorporated Societies Act 2022 was signed into law on 5 April 2022 to replace the previous 1908 Act. All Incorporated Societies must update their rules (constitution) to comply with the new law and apply for re-registration before April 2026 or be removed from the Incorporateed Societies register.
New Zealand Companies Office (NZCO) guidance on this situation is online at.
https://is-register.companiesoffice.govt.nz/news-and-notices/update-april-2022-on-law-changes-for-incorporated-societies/
How Does The OGHT Prepare Its New Constitution?
The NZCO has provided a 'constitution builder' tool online to help Incorporated Societies develop compliant constitutions. The Builder contains a multi-choice mix of Mandatary, Recommended and Optional text that Societies can use to prepare their new constitution. The OGHT Committee has used this tool to prepare a draft of the new constitution.
The NZCO 'Next Step Advice
'Share your draft constitution with your society's members and committee (if applicable). Give them time to read and understand it. To adopt a new constitution, or amend an existing one, it will need to be approved by your members at a general meeting. The new or amended constitution only takes effect once it has been registered on the Register of Incorporated Societies.'
The OGHT Planned Steps Are:
a. Share the draft 2025 OGHT constitution with its members. Receive comment, share discussion, agree the draft constitution be submitted for formal approval at an AGM.
[Step A is where we are now. The OGHT Committee has agreed that Version 5 of the Draft 2025 Constitution should be shared with members to seek comment and feedback on the content.]
b. At the OGHT AGM in October 2025, present the agreed draft 2025 OGHT Constitution to members for adoption. The OGHT existing Constitution requires that at least two thirds of the members voting at the AGM must agree the motion for the change to be approved.
c. The OGHT Committee submit the new constitution to the NZCO and seek re-registration of the OGHT as an Incorporated Society.
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Sharing The Draft Constitution With Members
1. Linked at the top of the page are two PDF documents. These are:
- Current 2021 OGHT Constitution; and
- Draft Version 5, 2025 OGHT Constitution
2. The current constitution is 10 pages long. The new draft constitution is 27 pages long. This is obviously a daunting amount of words for members to consider. The good news is that the majority of the words are 'boiler-plate' text provided by the NZCO and which societies must include in their Constitutions.
Therefore, the OGHT Committee has marked subject headings containing mandatory text with the mark [MANDATORY]. The intention is that members can choose to spend less time reading content that is 'pre-approved' by the NZCO to help speed up their review.
Also, where there is a variation relating to OGHT matters, the item may be marked [UPDATE PARA 9] or similar. Where content from our existing constitution is directly copied, a mark of [COPY PARA 7] or similar may be used. Members should consider both the current constitution content and how they feel about the new draft version of the content. Any changes will have already been reviewed and discussed by the OGHT Committee and considered to be acceptable for members to agree if they are unsure about them.
3. Discussion is welcome by email. To avoid giant emails being copied back and forth between all members, please use the email link at the top of the page (copy link and past it into your email 'TO' address box) Your email will be received by OGHT Vice President Rex Johnson. Do not 'Reply to All' or re-attach the Constitution documents. The Committee will summarise and share all discussion points, gathering comments, say weekly - more or less as comments dictate. Please keep all discussion on-topic and as brief as practical.
It is preferable that comments are not received by phone. This is because phone comments then need to be typed up by an OGHT member, and Committee members are not necessarily free to spend time on the phone on one-on-one discussions. If needed the OGHT Committee will offer a group meeting opportunity at our Cromwell office.
Thank you in advance for helping us progress our legal status as an Incorporated Society so we can carry on doing the great work we so enjoy.
Warwick Hawker
OGHT President
13 May 2025