Barry Wakelin (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last evening when we were debating the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Amendment Bill 2005, we were going through the reasons for the legislation. It is perhaps worth referring to the report of the inquiry of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Many ways forward: report of the inquiry into capacity building and service delivery in Indigenous communities. I was the chairman of that committee, and on page 129 we stated:

Incorporation

4.71    Indigenous organisations can be incorporated (established as corporate entities) through a variety of legislative mechanisms including those under the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), the Office of the Registrar of Aboriginal Corporations (ORAC), or through various State and Territory incorporating agencies. Bodies may wish to incorporate in order to fulfil legal requirements or to meet funding or lending bodies’ requirements.

4.72    ORAC articulated why Indigenous organisations choose to incorporate:

Communities cannot survive without incorporated bodies because they open the door to funding, land-holding, commercial enterprises [and] economic independence…

4.73    The Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976 (the ACA Act), administered by ORAC, was enacted for the purpose of providing Indigenous groups and communities with a simple and inexpensive means of incorporation …

That sets the scene for this situation. In October 2002 ORAC advised the committee that there were approximately 2,800 corporations incorporated under the ACA Act. It is important to understand, when we focus on heritage protection within the national context, that, while the integrity of heritage and culture is very important, it is part of a much wider agenda. Therefore, when we move to make these alterations to the Victorian situation or to do with overseas property et cetera, we should remember always that the Indigenous heritage issues fit within an estimated 2,800 corporations under the ACA Act, which is about half of all the 6,000 or so corporations within Australia. That reminds us that, as important as the heritage and culture are, there are also the issues of health, education, employment and all the other various issues which are important to the present-day situation for Indigenous people.

As I said last night, I wish the bill a speedy passage. But, in the context of the broader agenda for the Indigenous people of Australia, we need to bring some perspective and understand that this is a practical recognition of the changes in corporate law over a period of time and of the balance between corporate law and heritage and culture. It is important that the government move with the times and bring this legislation into place. I wish the bill a speedy passage.

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