Special administration start - Kalumburu Aboriginal Corporation

The Registrar of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations, Ms Tricia Stroud, has placed the Kalumburu Aboriginal Corporation (ICN 113) under special administration.

On 15 January 2025, the corporation was issued a show cause notice on why it should not be placed under special administration following an examination of its books.

The examination identified a number of serious and systemic governance concerns. These included matters of non-compliance with basic obligations such as maintaining adequate member registers, as well as the more concerning matters of:

• No financial delegations in place and limited policies and procedures to guide the financial management of the corporation
• Failure to provide minutes for 13 purported directors’ meetings held since 1 July 2022  
• Failure to hold AGMs and lodge audited financial statements. Subsequent to the examination the corporation is non-compliant with its reporting requirements for two consecutive years. 

Following an extended show cause period, the Registrar considered the corporation’s response to be inadequate and did not address the matters of non-compliance raised in the show cause notice.

The Registrar has today appointed Mr Cameron Crichton and Mr Matthew Mullen from Grant Thornton Australia as the joint and several special administrators. Their appointment is until 19 September 2025. All board positions have been vacated and the special administrators will conduct the affairs of the corporation.

Background

Kalumburu Aboriginal Corporation is in the northernmost community in Western Australia on the north Kimberley coast. It provides services to the people in the Kalumburu community.