Reporting compliance

Increased focus on reporting compliance

In years gone by well over 90 per cent of corporations did the right thing when it comes to reporting. Unfortunately more recently the rate of corporations meeting their reporting obligations has fallen significantly, inviting criticism of the sector.

We acknowledge the challenges faced by corporations in recent years arising from natural disasters and the pandemic. We responded to these circumstances by issuing exemptions from reporting deadlines and adjusting our regulatory approach. The ability of corporations to meet and conduct business has now returned to normal. So too have the expectations of strong accountability. In line with this shift, ORIC’s monitoring of corporations’ performance against reporting obligations and regulatory action for non-compliance has now returned to business as usual.

Consequences

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations who have failed to meet their reporting obligations are at risk of being deregistered or referred for prosecution. These reports are due within 6 months of the reporting period they relate to. For example 2022–23 reports were due by 31 December 2023.

The Registrar has an annual program of reviewing corporations that don't lodge on time to consider if they should be deregistered (if they are believed to be inactive), or referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions for potential prosecution. 

The maximum penalty for each report not lodged is 25 penalty units or imprisonment for 6 months, or both for each report not lodged. For a corporation the fine imposed may be up to 5 times the maximum penalty. 

The value of a penalty unit is prescribed by the Crimes Act 1914.
For offences committed on or after 1 July 2020 the value is $222. 
For offences committed on or after 1 January 2023 the value is $275. 
For offences committed on or after 1 July 2023 the value is $313.
This means the current penalty a corporation may face is up to $39,125 for each report not lodged.

All corporations who have been prosecuted in the past are listed in our prosecution outcomes. These prosecutions are for breaches of sections 330-10 (General report to be lodged with Registrar) and 348-1 (Lodging annual reports with the Registrar).

Are you in breach? Action required

Find out if your corporation is up to date with its reporting requirements by:

• searching for it in the public register (use the ‘Find a corporation’ tool) and view your corporation extract. The extract has a full history of your corporation’s reporting. 
• looking for its name in the list of corporations with overdue reports. This list is updated nightly from records in the public Register of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations.

To avoid being deregistered or referred for prosecution, lodge your overdue report(s) now or if your corporation is no longer operating, contact ORIC for support to close your corporation.

If you need help to lodge your reports or deregister contact ORIC on 1800 622 431 or info@oric.gov.au.

Why it's important to meet your reporting obligations

Timely lodgement of annual reports affirms that your corporation takes its accountability and reporting obligations seriously. Meeting your reporting obligations is important because it:

• provides accurate, up-to-date information on your corporation for members, communities, creditors, investors and government agencies 
• builds your reputation as a trustworthy corporation with strong governance
• contributes to the collective dataset about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations, used by government agencies and researchers to generate insights and determine how best to allocate resources to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• enables ORIC to assess your financial viability, governance standards and risk.

Lodging your annual report for publishing on the public Register of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations is the most basic form of accountability. Failure to do so affects the reputation and credibility of your corporation individually and the sector overall.

Meeting a corporation’s legal reporting requirements is the responsibility of a corporation’s board – if not done it’s a direct reflection on the performance of those directors in charge of the corporation at the time. 

We understand that it can be challenging to gather all the information, review, approve and lodge it so we thank every corporation that manages to lodge their reports on time.

Some corporations have requested and received an extension of time to report. Those corporations are not in breach of their obligations. Others have simply missed the deadline and are therefore in breach.

Resources and further information