ABORIGINAL CORPORATION UNDER SCRUTINY:
CONCERNS have been raised about the financial management of a Townsville Aboriginal corporation that supports elderly and disabled residents which is being scrutinised for paying its own directors.
Registrar Delegate Gerrit Wanganeen claimed that an examination had found evidence the Townsville Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Corporation for Women had not complied with the relevant Corporations Act by allegedly paying its six directors “sitting fees”.
Under the Corporations ( Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act, directors can be reimbursed for “actual out- ofpocket expenses” but they cannot be paid fees for attending meetings or other business.
Mr Wanganeen sent directors a letter in November last year ordering them to “cease all payment of sitting fees immediately”.
The Bulletin asked the corporation’s chair Angie g Akee e if directors had complied with this order but she declined to comment. Financial statements obtained by the Bulletin do not detail which directors, including Ms Akee, were paid, and how much.
In 2016 and 2015 the corporation’s revenue total was about $ 1 million per annum.
In a special investigation the Bulletin revealed a similar practice of paying thousands of dollars straight to directors inside the Townsville- based Kyburra Munda Yalga Aboriginal Corporation, which is also chaired by Ms Akee.
On Frida Friday Ms Akee defend- ed the practice of paying directors fees for conducting work inside Kyburra.
“When we meet with proponents ... we negotiate fees for the directors. This is done in a lot of organisations,” she said.
Concerns about the financial relationship between the two corporations were raised in a separate examination by the Office for the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations ( ORIC) last year.
ORIC alleged there were “a number of instances” where loans were given to the Corporation for Women by Kyburra directors without the approval of members in a general meeting. The loan amounts are not known.
Kyburra directors told ORIC the loans were given to the Corporation for Women because it was struggling with a “cash shortage”.
Mr Wanganeen’s examination concluded the corporation had “no cash reserves” and had “traded at a loss over the last three financial years”.
“As at 31 August 2017 the corporation had a debt to the Australian Taxation Office of $ 131,232.38,” Mr Wanganeen said. Directors advised Mr Wanganeen they were seeking a new payment plan with the ATO. Mr Wanganeen said the corporation also owed employees $ 85,596 in superannuation.
He also reported the corporation had incurred $ 44,497 in accounting fees for the 2016- 17 financial year “despite not having an external accountant for six months”.
By comparison accounting fees for the entire 2015- 16 year were $ 25,490. The Corporation for Women is predominantly funded by government grants and employs 15 staff who provide home support to elderly and disabled residents in the Townsville region.