YINHAWANGKA ABORIGINAL CORPORATION

Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations

The Registrar of Indigenous Corporations is an independent statutory office holder whose chief function is to administer the CATSI Act. The legislation not only allows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups to form corporations but also it sets out how they should be run.

In addition to delivering modern corporate governance standards, the CATSI Act provides special measures to suit the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Some features unique to the CATSI Act include:

  • an Indigeneity requirement – a majority of both members and directors must be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people, providing protection for Indigenous ownership and control of the corporation
  • specialised regulatory powers and assistance—such as appointing examiners and special administrators
  • research, training and education in good corporate governance
  • registration of prescribed bodies corporate determined under the Native Title Act 1993.

The Registrar also provides a range of information on how the different legislation interacts, policy reasons for the legislation, policy statements on how the Registrar manages certain native title issues, and a guide for writing good governance rules. All these resources are available from www.oric.gov.au.

“Our ancestral heritage is based on our lands which supports and sustains us. Our duty of care is closely tied to our lands and our respect for them in the past, present and the future”

COMMUNITY: It's for our people and our future.

For all our members to benefit for now and all generations