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1. Overview
The Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (a Commonwealth Act) provides for the incorporation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations/Indigenous corporations. The terms can be interchangeable, a reference to one in this guide can mean the other.
The Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations established by the Act is responsible for the registration of Indigenous corporations and the maintenance of a public register.
A registered Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation is a body corporate with perpetual succession and may acquire and dispose of real property and sue and be sued in its corporate name specified in the certificate of registration.
An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation with a common seal may execute a document if the seal is affixed to the document and the fixing of the seal is witnessed by either:
- two (2) directors of the corporation, or
- a director and a corporation secretary of the corporation, or
- for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation that has only one (1) director – that director.
An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation may execute a document without using a common seal if the document is signed by either:
- two (2) directors of the corporation, or
- a director and a corporation secretary (if any) of the corporation, or
- if the corporation has only one (1) director – that director.
An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation may execute a document as a deed and is executed in the manner described above.
The Corporations Act (Cwlth) arrangements and reconstructions provisions apply to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations.