21General powers of incorporated associations

### 21 General powers of incorporated associations > *\[Section 21 Amended by No. 43 of 1991, s. 5 and Sched. 1 \]* > > > (1)  *\[Section 21 Subsection (1) amended by No. 62 of 1996, s. 3 and Sched. 1 \]*Subject to this Act and to any special restrictions or prohibitions in its rules or trust deed, and without prejudice to any other powers contained in its rules or trust deed or implied by law, an incorporated association has power – > > > > > > (a) to act as trustee for any other incorporated association or any body (whether incorporated or unincorporated) formed for charitable purposes; > > > > > > > (b) to accept and hold upon trust real or personal property that is given to the association subject to any trust and to carry out any such trust; > > > > > > > (c) to invest its money in or upon any security in which trustees are for the time being authorized by law to invest trust funds; > > > > > > > (d) [*\[Section 21 Subsection (1) amended by No. 74 of 1999, Sched. 2, Applied:01 Jan 2000\]*](/view/html/inforce/2000-01-01/act-1999-074#JS2@Ja7@GC1@EN) to open and operate authorised deposit-taking institution accounts; > > > > > > > (e) to borrow money upon such terms and in such manner and upon such security (if any) as the association thinks fit, for the purpose of carrying out its objects and purposes; and > > > > > > > (f) to secure the repayment of money so raised or borrowed, or the payment of a debt or liability of the association, by giving mortgages, charges, or securities upon or over all or any of the real or personal property of the association. > > > (2)  Nothing in this section empowers an incorporated association to carry on trading or to secure pecuniary profit, whether directly or indirectly, for its members. > > > (3)  *\[Section 21 Subsection (3) inserted by No. 9 of 1982, s. 7 and Sched. 10 \]*A person (including an incorporated association) shall not make an invitation to the public to subscribe for or purchase debentures of an association (whether an incorporated association or not) or make to the public an offer of debentures of such an association for subscription or purchase. > > > > Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 30 penalty units. > > > (4)  *\[Section 21 Subsection (4) inserted by No. 9 of 1982, s. 7 and Sched. 10 \]*An incorporated association shall not make an invitation to the public to deposit money with, or to make a loan of money to, the association or make to the public an offer to accept a deposit or loan of money from any member of the public. > > > > Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 30 penalty units. > > > (5)  *\[Section 21 Subsection (5) inserted by No. 9 of 1982, s. 7 and Sched. 10 \]*[*\[Section 21 Subsection (5) substituted by No. 42 of 2001, Sched. 1, Applied:15 Jul 2001\]*](/view/html/inforce/2001-07-15/act-2001-042#JS1@Ja4@GC4@EN) For the purposes of [subsections (3)](#GS21@Gs3@EN) and [(4)](#GS21@Gs4@EN) , an incorporated association is declared to be an applied Corporations legislation matter for the purposes of [Part 3 of the](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-2001-999#) [Corporations (Ancillary Provisions) Act 2001](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-2001-999) in relation to sections 82 and 700(2)(a) of the Corporations Act.