Movement Now A Corporation

After more than 40 years as a community association, South Australia’s Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement (ALRM) has changed its own legal foundation to become a corporation, but it will retain its community focus.

At a General Meeting held in Adelaide today, it was formally agreed to change the status of the Movement from an Association to that of a Company Limited by Guarantee.

According to ALRM Chairperson Sandra Saunders, the change was necessary for the organisation to continue to receive funding from the Federal Government.

”Organisations which get funding under the Indigenous Legal Assistance Program were told they need to be incorporated under The Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations, known as ORIC” she explained.

“The ALRM Board of Management decided that the opportunities for the Movement under ORIC would be far more limited than our current structure.

“We considered all of the legal and community issues, in the end decided that it was better to change the status of the Movement to that of a Company Limited by Guarantee” she said.

According to ALRM CEO Cheryl Axelby, the organisation will continue to be open to the community and make sure that opportunities for participation and membership of the Movement remain open.

“We are still all about our community and membership, and getting our mob involved, that won’t change” she told the meeting.

“We think the new structure will provide new opportunities for ALRM and our stakeholders, both in terms of our ability to grow and our ability to connect with community” Ms Axelby said.

One significant impact of the change is that Aboriginal South Australians will no longer automatically be members of the Movement, but need to apply to join.

The ALRM welcomes and encourages all Aboriginal South Australians to apply to become members – contact the ALRM for an application form https://www.alrm.org.au/

Pic: ALRM Board Members at Special General Meeting 28/7/17 (left to right) Michael Coughlan, Sandra Saunders (Chair), Sandra Miller & Lucy Evans

By Lucy Kingston