371 corporations facing deregistration for failing to lodge reports

The Registrar of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations, Tricia Stroud, is using her powers under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act) to deregister up to 371 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations.

Most of these corporations have failed to lodge reports for the past 2 years; some for longer.

Under the CATSI Act a corporation may be deregistered or face penalties of up to $34,375 for corporations and $6,875 for secretaries for each report not lodged, depending on the timing and the circumstances of the offence.

There is no fee for lodging reports.

In October 2022 the Registrar sent a notice to each corporation she believes is no longer operating to notify them of her intention to deregister them.

‘My office continues to contact these corporations and offer support to lodge overdue reports,’ Ms Stroud said.

‘We have heard from a few of these corporations. The rest, whom we don’t hear from in the next few weeks, will be deregistered.’

How to check reporting and deregistration status

The reporting and deregistration status of every individual corporation is available in its records in the public register on oric.gov.au.

The Registrar publishes a consolidated list of corporations who have not lodged reports. The Registrar has this week updated the list to show status with reporting requirements for 2021–22 and whether deregistration action is in progress for these non-compliant corporations. The list updates each night after checking ORIC’s system for lodged reports.

MR2223-04