Indigenous Corp — Missing Millions

Millions of dollars of mining royalty payments are feared to have been squandered and special administrators are scrambling to unravel a maze of entities associated with one of the country's most prominent native title organisations.

There are more than 3,000 Indigenous corporations across the country, and each year billions of dollars are pumped through them. Most are not-for-profit organisations — they exist to provide services and economic development for Indigenous communities.

Tonight, Adele Ferguson from the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, returns to investigate one organisation called ATLA which was put into special administration a year ago. This story was produced by 7.30's Chris Gillett.

The investigation drew on documents obtained from the special administrators, interviews with community members who had been promised the benefits of the royalty payments, and analysis of the complex web of entities through which the money had flowed.

Community members described their frustration and anger at discovering that money that should have funded housing, education, and economic development for their communities had apparently been mismanaged or misappropriated.

The investigation raised serious questions about the adequacy of oversight of Indigenous corporations — and about the responsibilities of governments and regulators to ensure that royalty payments and other funds intended for Indigenous communities actually reached the people they were meant to benefit.