The Registrar of Indigenous Corporations, Anthony Beven, today hosted a graduation ceremony in Darwin for the successful graduates of the 2012 Certificate IV in Business (Governance).

The 13 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at the ceremony represented several different corporations from across Australia.

Special guests included Jeanneen McLennan, a director of the Northern Territory Stolen Generations Aboriginal Corporation, who also performed the welcome to country. One Mob Dancers (correctional services dance group) provided the cultural entertainment.

Ms Sandra Gail Newman, a former director and manager of Orana Aboriginal Corporation, today appeared in the Dubbo Local Court on 81 charges involving dishonesty under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act).

The charges follow an investigation conducted by the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations, Mr Anthony Beven.

Orana Aboriginal Corporation is based in Wellington, New South Wales, and provides training and employment services for Aboriginal people in the local area.

The Registrar of Indigenous Corporations, Anthony Beven, has welcomed the registration of the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress Inc. (Congress) under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act) 2006 (CATSI Act). The transfer from the Northern Territory’s Associations Act 2003 to the CATSI Act occurred yesterday after it was approved at the Congress annual general meeting in Alice Springs on 14 December 2012.

In an action brought by the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations, Mr Anthony Beven, one former director and a former community volunteer of the Ngukurr Progress Aboriginal Corporation (NPAC) have today been disqualified from managing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations. The proceedings were brought in the Federal Court in Darwin.

The Supreme Court of the Northern Territory today ordered the winding up of the Amundurrngu Mt Liebig Community Store (Aboriginal Corporation). Mr Nicholas Cooper of BRI Ferrier was appointed as liquidator.

The corporation was established in 1987 to own and operate the only community store in Mt Liebig, which lies about 325 kilometres west of Alice Springs and is home to 110 people.

A further 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations have recently been convicted and fined for not lodging their annual returns for the 2010–11 financial year. Five of the corporations are located in Queensland, four in the Northern Territory and one in New South Wales.

One corporation in Queensland has been fined a record sum of $13,300 for a continuing offence. It was also prosecuted in 2011 for not lodging its annual returns.

The Registrar of Indigenous Corporations, Anthony Beven, has today announced the end of the special administration of the Many Rivers Regional Housing Management Services Aboriginal Corporation.

The corporation manages about 300 rental properties on behalf of the NSW Aboriginal Housing Office (AHO) and other housing organisations in northern New South Wales.

The Registrar of Indigenous Corporations, Anthony Beven, has today announced the end of the special administration at the Umpi Korumba Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation for Housing. Control of the corporation’s affairs has now been handed back to the members and a new board of directors.

The Registrar of Indigenous Corporations, Anthony Beven, has today released a report on remuneration and other benefits paid by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act).

The Registrar of Indigenous Corporations, Mr Anthony Beven, has today announced that the special administration of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Corporation for Welfare Services will be extended until 31 May 2013.

The corporation was placed under special administration on 15 October 2012 after an examination of the corporation’s books revealed serious governance and financial shortcomings in its day-to-day business. The initial period for the special administration was set for six months, to end on 15 April 2013.