The Registrar of Indigenous Corporations, Anthony Beven, has today placed the Pika Wiya Health Service Aboriginal Corporation (Pika Wiya) under special administration.
The corporation was registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 on 14 April 2010.
Pika Wiya is based in Port Augusta and is funded by the Commonwealth and the South Australian governments to deliver primary and secondary health-care services to Aboriginal people in and around Port Augusta. The corporation also operates clinics at Davenport, Copley and Nepabunna.
‘In December 2014 my office conducted an examination of the corporation,’ said Mr Beven. ‘The examination revealed that Pika Wiya was under serious financial stress and the directors were unable to work together.’
On 16 January 2015, the directors notified the Registrar that they had appointed voluntary administrators to Pika Wiya.
Voluntary administrators investigate the affairs of a corporation and then make a recommendation as to what should happen to the corporation based on the best interests of the creditors. Creditors then meet to decide the future of the corporation.[1]
On 23 January 2015 the Registrar asked the corporation to show cause why it should not be placed under special administration.
‘After careful consideration of the circumstances and all of the factors I decided the best and most cost effective way to help resolve the governance and financial problems facing Pika Wiya was to place it under special administration,’ said Mr Beven.
The Registrar has appointed Mr Jack James and Ms Paula Cowan from the firm of Palisade Business Consulting Pty Ltd as the joint special administrators of the corporation for the next six months.
The special administrators will work closely with the members of the corporation as well as the Commonwealth and State funding agencies to decide the future of the corporation. The aim of the special administration is to return a stronger Pika Wiya to the control of its members as quickly as possible.
[1] Creditors – Voluntary administration, www.asic.gov.au