The Registrar of Indigenous Corporations, Anthony Beven, has today placed the Durri Aboriginal Corporation Medical Service under special administration.
Mr Beven has appointed Peter McQuoid from the Brisbane-based firm of PDM Consultancy as the special administrator.
Durri Aboriginal Corporation Medical Service is located in Kempsey, New South Wales, and delivers important health-care services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The corporation runs three medical centres in Kempsey, Nambucca Heads and Bowraville.
An examination by the Registrar of the corporation’s books and records was completed in September 2011 and revealed poor corporate governance and weak financial management.
‘This corporation has provided quality health care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for 30 years. For most of that time the corporation has been well governed and managed,’ said Mr Beven. ‘In recent times though there has been a worrying deterioration in corporate governance standards. I have made this appointment today to protect the essential health services delivered by the corporation.’
The special administrator will work closely with the corporation’s funding agencies and members to re-establish good governance and financial management at the corporation. The special administrator will also investigate whether there have been any breaches of the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act).
‘I want to see the corporation’s affairs put back in order as quickly as possible,’ said Mr Beven. ‘And looking forward, I’d like to see the new directors undertake corporate governance training to reaffirm good governance practices and help build future capacity.’
Background: Special administration is a special measure under the CATSI Act which helps corporations to fix their problems. The aim of the process is to restore a corporation to good health and, as soon as possible, hand back control to its members. For more information please see the ORIC fact sheet Special administrations: what members and directors should know at www.oric.gov.au.
28 November 2011
Media contact
Christa De Jager
(02) 6219 7611
Ref: ORIC MR1112-12
Special administrator
Peter McQuoid
(07) 3289 2596
p.mcquoid@pdmconsultancy.com.au