The Law Handbook 2024

Chapter 6.6: Community organisations 615 for-profit. The Indigenous corporation structure has been designed to take into account Indigenous customs and traditions. Members of an Indigenous corporation may elect to have limited or no liability. Indigenous corporations are regulated by a specialist regulator, the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations ( ORIC ), not ASIC. ORIC has additional regulatory powers to those of ASIC (e.g. the power to call meetings of members and to appoint special administrators). Organisations that are incorporated as Indigenous corporations must have the words ‘Aboriginal corporation’, ‘Torres Strait Islander corporation’, ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation’, ‘Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal corporation’ or ‘Indigenous corporation’ in their name. Indigenous corporations: Eligibility To be eligible to register as an Indigenous corporation, organisations must satisfy the follow­ ing registration requirements as set out in the CATSI Act: • the corporation must have at least five members (although an exemption can be granted on certain grounds; e.g. where the corporation is a sole trader) who are at least 15 years of age; • if the corporation has five or more members, at least 51 per cent of members must be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander persons; • if the corporation has fewer than five members but more than one member, all of the members or all but one of the members must be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander persons; • if the corporation has only one member, that member must be an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person; and • the corporation must have a ‘rule book’ (i.e. a constitution) that governs the corporation’s activities and complies with the CATSI Act. Organisations that must be Indigenous corporations Corporations managing or holding land under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) and the Native Title (Prescribed Bodies Corporate) Regulations 1999 (Cth) must incorporate as Indigenous corporations. Indigenous organisations receiving grants of $500,000 (GST exclusive) or more in any single financial year from funding administered by the National Indigenous Australians Agency of the Australian Government must be incorporated under the CATSI Act. Advantages of incorporating as an Indigenous corporation The advantages of incorporating as an Indigenous corporation include: • the corporation’s rules or constitution can take into account Indigenous customs and traditions; • registering as an Indigenous corporation is free and there are no ongoing fees under the CATSI Act; • corporations may be exempt from producing annual reports (especially corporations with a small revenue); • corporations can access free advice and support from ORIC; and • Indigenous corporations deal with a specialist regulator (ORIC), rather than with ASIC. Indigenous corporations: reporting requirements The reporting requirements for Indigenous corporations vary according to the corporation’s income, assets and its number of employees in a financial year: • small corporation (must have at least two of the following: a consolidated gross operating income of less than $100,000, consolidated gross assets valued at less than $100,000 and fewer than five employees): a general report only; • small corporation (with a consolidated gross operating income of between $100,000 and $5 million): a general report, a financial report and an audit report (or a general report and a financial report based on reports to government funders, if eligible); • medium corporation (must have at least two of the following: a consolidated gross operating income of between $100,000 and $5 million, consolidated gross assets valued between $100,000 and $2.5 million and between five and 24 employees): a general report, a financial report and an audit report (or, a general report and a