Section 53

The secretary of every registered trade union shall furnish annually to the Registrar on or before the prescribed date in each year a general statement audited in the prescribed manner, of all receipts and expenditure during the period of 12 months ending on the last day of March last preceding that prescribed date, and of the assets and liabilities of the trade union as at that day.

The general statement referred to in subsection (1) shall be accompanied by a copy of the auditor’s report and shall be prepared in such form and shall comprise such particulars as may be prescribed.

Together with the general statement referred to in subsection (1), the secretary of each registered trade union shall furnish to the Registrar a copy of all alterations or amendments of rules, and of all new rules, and a list of all changes of officers, made by the trade union during the period of 12 months preceding the last day of March, and a copy of the rules of the trade union in force on that day.

The Registrar may, on application made to him by a registered trade union, by writing under his hand, substitute the day on which the financial year of the trade union ends for the last day of March referred to in subsections (1) and (3) and, if necessary, some other date for the date prescribed for the purposes of subsection (1).

All the provisions of this section shall apply accordingly in the case of the registered trade union referred to in subsection (4) as though the date and the day so substituted were respectively the prescribed date referred to in subsection (1) and the last day of March referred to in subsections (1) and (3).

Every member of a registered trade union shall be entitled to receive free of charge a copy of the general statement referred to in subsection (1) and the secretary of each registered trade union shall deliver a copy of that statement to every member of his trade union who makes application to him therefor.

Any secretary of a registered trade union who fails to comply with any requirement of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction before a District Court or Magistrate’s Court to a fine not exceeding $2,000.

Every person who wilfully makes or orders or causes or procures to be made any false entry in or omission from any general statement, copy or list delivered to the Registrar under subsections (1), (2) and (3) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction before a District Court or Magistrate’s Court to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both.