Issue Date:  -  Tuesday, 29 June 2004

Lazy Men and Cat Fanciers Wanted

The Department of Consumer and Employment Protection wants to hear from lazy men and cat fanciers.

That is, members of the Northam and District Lazy Men's Association of WA (Inc) established in 1923 and The Golden West Cat Fanciers Association of WA (Inc) established in 1934.

These are just two of the 17,000 listings on the department’s Associations database, which dates back to 1896.

The database is the central listing for all Western Australian clubs, societies, groups and associations incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act (1987). A review is currently underway to confirm which associations are currently active, and which aren’t.

"There are thousands of names on the database, including many weird and wonderful ones and some that are just plain interesting, such as the Skull Bone and Pig Society", Consumer Protection Commissioner Patrick Walker said.

Some other names are:

* The Chain Locker Club

* Organising Council of the VIIth British Empire and Commonwealth Games

* The Useless Angling Club

* Light Weight Sharpie Club of Western Australia

"What we don’t know is whether they all still exist, as clubs are not required to contact the department to keep us informed of their activities and contact details.

"We are now making a number of public approaches to find out.

"Not only would we like to hear from members of active groups, we would also love to hear from former members of now defunct groups. In this way we can confirm the current status of associations, and update our database to reflect this.

If associations are found to be inactive we can then also take the legal steps necessary to cancel the entries and free up names for other organisations", Mr Walker said.

Members of active groups and former members of inactive clubs, societies, associations and groups can contact the Department on telephone 1300 79 04 50, fax on 9282 0948 or email at assoc-cleanup@docep.wa.gov.au <mailto:assoc-cleanup@docep.wa.gov.au>.

Website www.docep.wa.gov.au/associations/cleanup  has further details.