Co-Operatives (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2015

(1) If a person enters into, or purports to enter into, a contract on behalf of, or for the benefit of, a proposed co-operative (pre-registration contract), the co-operative becomes bound by the contract and entitled to its benefit if the co-operative, or a co‑operative that is reasonably identifiable with it, is registered and ratifies the contract:

(2) The person is released from any liability under the pre-registration contract if the co-operative enters into another contract in substitution for it:

(a) within a reasonable period after the pre-registration contract is entered into; or

(b) within any period agreed to by the parties to the pre‑registration contract.

(3) The person is liable to pay damages to each other party to the pre‑registration contract if a co-operative is not registered, or a co‑operative is registered but does not ratify the contract or enter into a substitute for it:

(4) The maximum amount of damages the person is liable to pay to a party is the amount the co-operative would be liable to pay to the party if the co-operative had been registered and had ratified the contract and then completely failed to perform it.

(5) If proceedings are brought to recover damages under subsection (3) because the co-operative is registered but does not ratify the pre-registration contract or enter into a substitute for it, the court may do anything it thinks just in the circumstances, including ordering the co-operative:

(b) to transfer property the co-operative received because of the contract to a party to the contract; or

(6) If the co-operative ratifies the pre-registration contract but fails to perform all or part of it, the court may order the person to pay all or part of the damages that the co‑operative is ordered to pay.