The Jawoyn Association has welcomed the Office of Registrar of Indigenous Corporations review of its operations and says the majority of issues identified in the report were problems of the past which have already been addressed.

ORIC conducts standard three-year reviews of all Indigenous corporations in Australia and its review of the Jawoyn Association is part of its regular reporting regime.

In its report, ORIC has identified seven compliance concerns over the past four years.

Jawoyn Association chief executive officer John Berto says it’s important to note that ORIC has acknowledged most issues it has raised relate to earlier years of the review period.

“The Jawoyn Association is now very strong but it went through great upheaval and difficulty a few years ago,” Mr Berto says.

“It was an unsettling time when the association faced sequential loss of management, staff and a turnover in its board of directors. It was a dark time for all our members and a period many would prefer to forget.

“We have had to fight very hard to rebuild the association and we have turned the problems around and are now looking toward a brighter future.”

ORIC has also acknowledged the Jawoyn Association immediately addressed five of the seven concerns it identified in the review.

“Some of the compliance issues of the past have already been dealt with simply because the association is up and running again with proper procedures in place,” Mr Berto says.

He says two remaining issues of compliance are matters that will be addressed at the Annual General Meetings this coming week.

“We conduct our business with a high degree of integrity and transparency,” Mr Berto says.

“We’ve implemented new policies and added more compliance and we’ve expanded our work and developed new businesses and opportunities for our members.

“With the hard work from the board of management and staff, particularly in the past two years, the Jawoyn Association has overcome losses from the past, rebuilt its resources and is again in a strong financial position.”

We look forward to reporting our good news and more to our members at our Annual General Meeting this week.