Official textFrom Singapore Statutes Online, unchanged
s 1Short title
This Act is the Societies Act 1966.
s 2Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —“Assistant Registrar” means an Assistant Registrar of Societies appointed under section 3;“officer” means the president, the secretary and members of the committee of a society and includes persons holding positions analogous to those of president, secretary or member of a committee;[Deleted by Act 34 of 2023 wef 02/05/2024]“political association” means a political party and includes any society which the Minister may by order declare to be a political association;“registered address”, in relation to a registered society, means the address of the society that is kept and maintained with the Registrar as the registered address of the society;“registered society” means a society registered or deemed to be registered under this Act;“Registrar” means the Registrar of Societies appointed under section 3;“regulations” means regulations made under this Act;“rules”, in relation to a society, includes —
the aims and objects for which a society is formed, or which it may pursue, or for which its funds may be applied;
the qualifications for membership and for the holding of any office;
the method of appointment or election to any office;
the rules by which the society is to be governed; and
the method and manner by and in which any of the above matters may be amended;“society” includes any club, company, partnership or association of 10 or more persons, whatever its nature or object, but does not include —
any company registered under any written law relating to companies for the time being in force in Singapore;
any company or association constituted under any written law;
any limited liability partnership registered under the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005;
any trade union registered or required to be registered under any written law relating to trade unions for the time being in force in Singapore;
any platform work association registered or required to be registered under the Platform Workers Act 2024;
any cooperative society registered as such under any written law;
any mutual benefit organisation registered as such under any written law relating to mutual benefit organisations for the time being in force in Singapore;
any company, association or partnership, consisting of not more than 20 persons, formed for the sole purpose of carrying on any lawful business that has for its object the acquisition of gain by the company, association or partnership, or the individual members thereof;
any class, society or association of foreign insurers carrying on insurance business in Singapore under any foreign insurer scheme established under Part 2A of the Insurance Act 1966; or
any school or management committee of a school constituted under any law regulating schools for the time being in force in Singapore.
“Assistant Registrar” means an Assistant Registrar of Societies appointed under section 3;
“officer” means the president, the secretary and members of the committee of a society and includes persons holding positions analogous to those of president, secretary or member of a committee;
“political association” means a political party and includes any society which the Minister may by order declare to be a political association;
“registered address”, in relation to a registered society, means the address of the society that is kept and maintained with the Registrar as the registered address of the society;
“registered society” means a society registered or deemed to be registered under this Act;
“Registrar” means the Registrar of Societies appointed under section 3;
“regulations” means regulations made under this Act;
“rules”, in relation to a society, includes —
the aims and objects for which a society is formed, or which it may pursue, or for which its funds may be applied;
the qualifications for membership and for the holding of any office;
the method of appointment or election to any office;
the rules by which the society is to be governed; and
the method and manner by and in which any of the above matters may be amended;
“society” includes any club, company, partnership or association of 10 or more persons, whatever its nature or object, but does not include —
any company registered under any written law relating to companies for the time being in force in Singapore;
any company or association constituted under any written law;
any limited liability partnership registered under the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005;
any trade union registered or required to be registered under any written law relating to trade unions for the time being in force in Singapore;
any platform work association registered or required to be registered under the Platform Workers Act 2024;
any cooperative society registered as such under any written law;
any mutual benefit organisation registered as such under any written law relating to mutual benefit organisations for the time being in force in Singapore;
any company, association or partnership, consisting of not more than 20 persons, formed for the sole purpose of carrying on any lawful business that has for its object the acquisition of gain by the company, association or partnership, or the individual members thereof;
any class, society or association of foreign insurers carrying on insurance business in Singapore under any foreign insurer scheme established under Part 2A of the Insurance Act 1966; or
any school or management committee of a school constituted under any law regulating schools for the time being in force in Singapore.
s 3Appointment of Registrar and Assistant Registrars
The Minister may appoint by name or office a Registrar of Societies and such Assistant Registrars as may be necessary.
Subject to this section, the Registrar may, upon the application of a society specified in the Schedule (called in this Act a specified society) and on payment of the fee prescribed for an application under this section, register the society under this section.
The Registrar shall refuse to register a specified society if he is satisfied that —
the rules of the specified society are insufficient to provide for its proper management and control;
the specified society is likely to be used for unlawful purposes or for purposes prejudicial to public peace, welfare or good order in Singapore;
the application for registration does not comply with the provisions of this Act or any regulations made thereunder;
it would be contrary to Singapore’s national security or interest for the specified society to be registered; or
in the case of any specified society which is a political association, its rules do not provide for its membership to be confined to citizens of Singapore or it has such affiliation or connection with any organisation outside Singapore as is considered by the Registrar to be contrary to Singapore’s national security or interest.
The Registrar may refuse to register a specified society if —
he is satisfied that the specified society is a branch of or is affiliated to or connected with any society which has been dissolved under section 24 or under any previous written law relating to societies or which has been previously refused registration;
a dispute exists among the members of the specified society as to the persons who are to be officers or to hold or to administer any property of the specified society; or
it appears to him that the name under which the specified society is to be registered —
is likely to mislead members of the public as to the true character or purpose of the specified society or so nearly resembles the name of some other society as is likely to deceive the members of the public or members of either society;
is identical to that of any other existing society; or
is in the opinion of the Registrar undesirable.
The Registrar may also refuse to register a specified society under this section unless the rules of the society include such provisions or exclude such provisions (as the case may be) as the Registrar may direct.
Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Registrar under this section may within 30 days from the date of the decision appeal to the Minister whose decision shall be final.
The Registrar shall, by notification in the Gazette, publish such particulars as he thinks fit in respect of every specified society registered under this section.
A society may apply to be registered under this section if it is not a specified society.
An application for registration under this section shall be accompanied by —
the fee prescribed for an application under this section;
a copy of the proposed rules of the society;
a declaration in such form as the Registrar may require as to the object, purpose or activity of the society; and
such other documents and duly completed forms as the Registrar may require.
Upon an application under subsection (1), the Registrar —
may, subject to subsection (3A), register the society; and
upon the registration, must inform the applicant —
that the society has been registered; and
of the date of the registration of the society.
The Registrar must refuse to register a society under this section if the Registrar is satisfied that —
the society is likely to be used for unlawful purposes or for purposes prejudicial to public peace, welfare or good order in Singapore; or
it would be contrary to Singapore’s national security or interest for the society to be registered.
The Registrar shall, by notification in the Gazette, publish such particulars as he thinks fit in respect of every society registered under this section.
Despite subsection (3), where the Registrar considers —
that any society registered under this section ought to have been registered under section 4 by reason that it is a specified society; and
that the society qualifies to be registered, and could have been registered, under section 4,the Registrar may determine that the society be treated as being registered under section 4.
Where the Registrar makes a determination under subsection (5) that a society be treated as being registered under section 4 —
the Registrar must inform the society of the Registrar’s determination;
the Registrar may recover from the society as a debt due to the Government any difference in the fee mentioned in subsection (2)(a) and the fee mentioned in section 4(1); and
the society is deemed to have been registered under section 4 as on the date of its registration.
Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Registrar not to, or to refuse to, register a society under this section may within 30 days after the date of the decision appeal to the Minister whose decision is final.
Nothing in subsection (6)(c) prevents the Minister from exercising, in respect of any society mentioned in that provision, any power under section 24.
s 5Annual registers to be published
The Registrar shall as soon as may be after 1 April every year prepare and publish in the Gazette a list of all registered societies.
If the Registrar or an Assistant Registrar has reason to believe that any registered society has ceased to exist, he may publish in the Gazette a notification calling upon the society to furnish him with proof of its existence within 3 months from the date of the notification.
The Registrar or an Assistant Registrar must send a copy of the notification under subsection (1) to the society —
by delivery or post to its registered address; or
by email to the email address given by the society to the Registrar as the email address for the service of documents from the Registrar or Assistant Registrar under this Act.
If at the expiration of the 3 months the Registrar is satisfied that the society has ceased to exist, a notification to that effect shall be published in the Gazette, and the society shall be deemed to have ceased to exist from the date of the publication.
Any registered society which proposes to dissolve itself voluntarily in accordance with its rules shall inform the Registrar in writing, and a certificate of dissolution, signed by the president, the secretary and the treasurer or officers of the society holding analogous positions, shall be sent to the Registrar within one week of the society’s dissolution.
On receiving the certificate of dissolution, the Registrar shall, if he is satisfied that the society has been dissolved in accordance with its rules, publish a notification in the Gazette declaring that the society has ceased to exist.
Subject to subsection (3), any person may on payment of the prescribed fees inspect any document in the possession of the Registrar or an Assistant Registrar received from any registered society and be supplied with a copy of or an extract from any such document.
A copy of or an extract from any such document certified to be a true copy or extract by the Registrar or Assistant Registrar in writing shall be admissible in evidence in any proceedings.
No person shall be allowed to inspect the accounts of a registered society or be supplied with a copy of or an extract from those accounts unless the Registrar is satisfied that the person is a member of the society.
No registered society shall establish a branch without the prior approval of the Registrar.
The Registrar may refuse to approve the establishment of a branch of the registered society if —
the rules of the society do not provide for the establishment of a branch of the society; or
the rules of the branch of the society are such as to make it an independent society not adequately under the control of the society.
Where a registered society establishes a branch without the prior approval of the Registrar, the branch so established shall be deemed to be an unlawful society.
Any person who is aggrieved by the decision of the Registrar under this section may within 30 days from the date of the decision appeal to the Minister whose decision shall be final.
The Registrar or an Assistant Registrar may at any time by written notice order any registered society to furnish him with any such information as he may require concerning the society (such as but not limited to the patron of the society and every person managing or assisting in the management, of that society in Singapore) or any documents, accounts and books relating to the society.
The obligations imposed upon a registered society by subsection (1) shall be binding upon every officer, and upon every person managing or assisting in the management, of that society in Singapore.
If any registered society fails to comply with the whole or part of any order given under this section, each of the persons mentioned in subsection (2) who has been served with the order shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 unless he establishes to the satisfaction of the court that he has exercised due diligence and has failed to comply with the order for reasons beyond his control.
A person who, in response to any order mentioned in subsection (1) —
intentionally alters, suppresses or destroys —
any information concerning a registered society; or
any document, account or book of a registered society,that is required under the order to be furnished to the Registrar or Assistant Registrar; or
in providing any document, account or book of a registered society, makes any statement which the person knows or ought reasonably to know is, or is reckless as to whether it is, false or misleading in a material particular,shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
No registered society shall —
change its name; or
amend its rules,without the prior approval in writing of the Registrar or an Assistant Registrar.
Without limiting subsection (1), the grounds on which the Registrar or an Assistant Registrar may refuse to approve a change by a registered society of its name include where it appears to the Registrar or Assistant Registrar that the name to which the registered society is to be changed —
is likely to mislead members of the public as to the true character or purpose of the registered society or so nearly resembles the name of some other society as is likely to deceive the members of the public or members of either society;
is undesirable or offensive;
is identical to that of any other existing society; or
is likely to give the impression that the registered society is connected in some way with the Government or a public authority, or with any other body of persons or any individual, when it is not so connected.
Without limiting subsection (1), the grounds on which the Registrar or an Assistant Registrar may refuse to approve an amendment by a registered society of its rules include where it appears to the Registrar or Assistant Registrar that the amendment of the rules would be —
contrary to Singapore’s national security or interest; (b)prejudicial to public peace, welfare or good order in Singapore; or
contrary to the provisions of this Act or any regulations.
If a registered society fails to comply with the requirement of subsection (1), the society and every officer of the society shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $6,000.
For the purposes of this section, “amend” includes making a new rule and rescinding an existing rule.
Any person aggrieved by the refusal of the Registrar or an Assistant Registrar to approve the change of name of a registered society or to amend its rules may within 30 days from the date of the decision appeal to the Minister whose decision shall be final.