All aboard ORIC training
ORIC offers training to help improve the skills of members, directors and key staff
Courses are shaped to fit the needs of Indigenous corporations and cover areas like recruitment and staffing, how to run an meetings, planning, running a community store, budgeting, money management and how to handle disputes |
Nationally accredited training
ORIC’s formal training is nationally recognised and accredited and has been developed for Indigenous people seeking skills in corporate governance and management.
Recently, ORIC held graduation ceremonies for certificate IV and diploma qualifications in Perth, Darwin and Cairns. The Registrar, Mr Anthony Beven, presented the awards and spoke about governance and its role in developing strong corporations, strong people and strong communities.
‘The corporations that these graduates are a part of will be better equipped to face the challenges ahead,’ he said.
Tony Miles from Tennant Creek says he thoroughly recommends the course to all Aboriginal people. The Arrernte and Warrumungu man is a director of the large Julalikari Council Aboriginal Corporation, which provides a range of community development and business services throughout the Barkly region in the Northern Territory. He is working towards a degree in business management.
Warlpiri woman Mary Napangardi James from Elliott also graduated. She is committed to building a strong and well-run community organisation that provides culturally appropriate services at a grassroots level.
‘The business governance course has helped me to increase my knowledge and understanding of issues that affect Aboriginal corporations,’ she says. ‘This allows me to give back and provide a better service to my community.’
All the Darwin participants had previously completed the ORIC Building Strong Stores training course.
In Cairns, Roy Prior from Coolgaree Aboriginal Corporation on Palm Island was one of the 10 proud students to graduate with a Diploma of Business (Governance).
‘With the way changes are happening in communities today, a real focus is for our people to be involved in small business,’ Mr Prior says. ‘I feel the diploma of business has equipped me with the right tools to achieve my goals.’
ORIC staff member Masepah Banu, who is a member of the ACT Torres Strait Islander Corporation, also graduated in Cairns. ‘It was worth every minute,’ says Mr Banu, who is originally from Boigu Island.
He has worked for ORIC since 1999 and his participation in the diploma course was part of the Registrar’s commitment to ORIC’s Reconciliation
Action Plan.
Supporting corporations
A new ORIC study reveals the importance of early support and intervention to turn around Indigenous corporations at risk of failing.
‘Of the 2300 Indigenous corporations regulated by ORIC, the majority are functioning well. But for
those struggling, we need to know why,’ Registrar Anthony Beven says.
The study found the most common cause of failure was poor management and poor corporate governance.
Other key factors are underlying disputes and conflicts within and between corporations.
‘ORIC has responded by providing a new mediation and dispute resolution service to assist in avoiding major disputes and disruptions that can hinder a corporation’s success,’ Mr Beven says.
The study was conducted for the Registrar by the Australia and New Zealand School of Government’s Institute for Governance and is based on ORIC regulatory data without identifying specific corporations.
Copies of Analysing key characteristics in Indigenous corporate failure can be downloaded from www.oric.gov.au or call ORIC freecall 1800 622 431 (not free from mobiles).
Banner photo: Darwin graduates. Front: Anne Moreen, Anita Cooper, Michael Stevens,
Helen Fejo-Frith, Janet Gregory and Geoffrey Shannon. Back: Annie Druitt (trainer), Mary James,
Parnell Kumar, Tony Miles and Stuart Nuggett
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