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.
Based in Zillmere, a northern suburb of Brisbane, the corporation provides affordable long-term and emergency rental accommodation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Brisbane metropolitan area. It owns and manages 40 residential properties across the city and assists people to transition to the private rental market or home ownership. In recent years it has assisted 15 people to move to home ownership.
The corporation was placed under special administration on 23 August 2012 after an examination by the Registrar identified the need for improved administrative systems and corporate governance at the corporation.
During the special administration there was a steady increase in profits and a reduction in liabilities. Significant changes were also made to the corporation’s policies and procedures to improve productivity, recruitment and financial and corporate governance processes.
The special administrator entered into a partnership with the Red Cross for staff training, renovations to homes and the installation of a new computer system. A Red Cross manager has been appointed as an independent director of Umpi Korumba as part of the partnership arrangements.
Rental increases were also introduced to ensure the corporation had the financial resources to adequately maintain and manage its rental properties. Umpi Korumba’s rents are still below those charged in the private rental market in Brisbane.
‘The corporation is now in a much better place to continue and improve its much needed services to the community. I am confident that the new board of directors will pick up the reigns and carry on the good work started during the special administration,’ Mr Beven said.
The new board of directors will be made up of three member directors, Mr Barney Manktelow, Mr Robert West and Ms Emily Doctor; and two independent non-member directors, Mr Kevin Antonovich and Mr Matthew Cox. The directors were appointed by
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ORIC MR1213-27
1 February 2013