Before a co-operative can apply for registration, there must be at least one meeting of people who are interested in forming the co-operative. The people present at this meeting must adopt the constitution of the co-operative and elect the first directors of the co-operative.

After this meeting, the group must submit an application for registration to the Registrar of Co-operatives. This application must be made on an official form which is available from the Registrar’s office.

The group must submit the following documents to the Registrar along with the application:

• The constitution of the co-operative, signed by the members who are applying to register the co-operative (the ‘founder members’)
• A list of the names of the founder members
• A list of the names of the directors
• The registration fee, or proof that the registration fee has been paid.

The amount of the registration fee will be set by regulations made under the Co-operatives Act.