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Search online at www.societies.govt.nz

To search the online register, first access our website at www.societies.govt.nz and then choose which search option to use.

It is FREE to search for information about incorporated societies or charitable trusts at Societies and Trusts Online - that includes getting copies of documents.

Search the register now

Your search options

You can search for information about a society or trust by its current name or number using the Register Search menu option or by a name it was previously registered under by choosing Previous Name Search. You can also search for an organisation using one of its registered addresses.

Once you have located the relevant incorporated society or charitable trust, you can view its details FREE of charge.

If you know the organisation's current name, use the Quick Search option.

If you know the relevant organisation number or the exact name of the organisation, use the Standard Search option.

If you can't locate the organisation using the Quick Search or if you don't know the full name but you do know some of the words used in the name, use a Keyword Search.

If you still don't get a result, try using the Previous Name Search option in case the organisation has changed its name.

Register Search

Do a Register Search now

Quick Search

This search is an 'exact match' search. It will not return results for name(s) an organisation was previously registered under (Use the Previous Name Search option for this). The name must be entered exactly as it is recorded on the register. For example, if the registered name is "The Society Incorporated", you must include the word "The" in the search.

To carry out a quick search:

Select Search The Register then Register Search from the left hand menu.
Enter at least the first three characters of the name in the Quick Search field. A list of organisations starting with the characters you type will be displayed in the Results List.

Scroll through the Results List, or type more characters in the Quick Search field until the name you want appears in the Results List.

Double-click on the relevant name to display a page listing details and documents for the selected incorporated society or charitable trust.

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Standard Search

This facility searches the register for the current names of incorporated societies and charitable trusts that are currently registered, or for the last registered name of an incorporated society or charitable trust that has been struck off. It will not return results for name(s) that an organisation was previously registered under. To do this, use the Previous Name Search option.

To carry out a standard search:

Select Search The Register then Register Search from the left hand menu.
Using the Standard Search fields, either:
- Enter the relevant number (without the alpha district prefix), or
- Enter the first few characters of the name (the more characters entered the more focused the search results)
Click on the Submit Search button to display a list of search results.

The search results are displayed in lists of ten results per page. Use the Next 10 and Previous 10 buttons to scroll through the list until you find the entity you want.

Click on the relevant name to display a page listing details and documents for the selected incorporated society or charitable trust.

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Keyword Search

The Keyword Search is a useful tool. For example, if the society you are looking for is involved in cycling, you could enter 'cycling' as a keyword. Search results will be returned for all societies or trusts with the word 'cycling' in their names.

This facility searches the register for the current names of incorporated societies and charitable trusts that are currently registered, or for the last registered name of an incorporated society or charitable trust that has been struck off. It will not return results for any names that an organisation might have been previously registered under. To do this type of search use the Previous Name Search option.

To carry out a keyword search:

Follow the process as set out above for the Standard Search option but enter keywords used in the name.

Note | Certain words cannot be used as keywords because they are widely used in names. For example 'The', 'Trust' or 'Incorporated'

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Previous Name Search

Do a Previous Name Search now

This facility searches the register for names that have previously been the registered names of incorporated societies and charitable trusts.

To carry out a previous name search:

Select Search The Register then Previous Name Search from the left hand menu.
Either enter:
- the relevant organisation number or
- the first few characters of the previous name (the more characters entered the more focused the search results) or
- keywords from the previous name in the relevant box.
Click on the Submit Search button to display a list of search results. The results display the previous name and the organisation's current registered name.

The search results are displayed in lists of ten results. Use the Next 10 and Previous 10 buttons to scroll through the list until you find the name you want.

Click on either the previous name or the current name to display a page listing details and documents for the incorporated society or charitable trust.

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Address Search

Do an Address Search now

An address search allows you to search on words that make up a registered office address, address for communication or an address for premises. In an address search, the results of your search are faxed or emailed to you. They are not displayed on your screen.

To carry out a previous name search:

Select Search The Register then Address Search from the menu on the left to display an Address Search screen.
Specify one or more search criteria by specifying the nature of the criteria (for example, contains the word) and then enter one word that is used in the address in the field to the right.

Note | You can further customise your search by using the following buttons at the bottom of the screen