The GLSC Governing Committee met on Monday and Tuesday this week for the first time this year and the first time since six new faces were added to the 13-member committee at the corporation’s annual general meeting last November.

This week’s meeting was a governance training workshop for refreshing the new committee as to their responsibilities under the new Commonwealth Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act). The workshop was conducted by a consultant to the Federal Department of Families, Housing, Communities and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA), and was part of a nation-wide program for familiarizing elected members with the requirements of the new Act.

All Aboriginal corporations are required to bring their rules of operation (formerly called constitutions) into line with the CATSI Act by 1 July 2009. At the November AGM the GLSC adopted its new Rules, clearance for which is expected soon from the Registrar of Aboriginal Corporations.

Under the new Rules, governing committee members will be called directors, with stringent new responsibilities and accountability that in many ways mirror those of directors of private sector companies.  

New soon-to-be directors of the GLSC who were elected at the AGM are Dianne Logan, Vanessa Thomas, Johnny Graham, Karen Vincent, Ivan Forrest and Sharon Tucker. Re-elected were Ricky Dimer, Allan Bonney, Laurence Thomas, Brian Champion Jnr, Fabian Tucker and Cyril Barnes.  

Chairman Ian Tucker was also returned. Mr Tucker has led the GLSC since 1999, except for a one-year absence in 2007. He is an elected councillor with the Menzies Shire Council and Chairman of the Menzies Aboriginal Corporation.  

“Our new team will continue to vigorously pursue our people’s native title rights, while at the same time working hard to ensure a deeper role for our people in the region’s social and economic life,” Mr Tucker said.  

In his report to the AGM, CEO Brian Wyatt reflected on progress over the past 10 years, speaking of initiatives past and present that have positioned the GLSC as one of the nation’s most highly regarded Aboriginal corporations.  

“With GLSC support, Goldfields indigenous people are in the vanguard in Australia for asserting their rights as laid down in international covenants, notably the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007,” he said.  

Media contact: Brian Wyatt 0417 970413; David Berry 0417 963089