Recruitment for Indigenous Corporations

It was a long path to the Mabo decision and it has been a long path since…

Indigenous corporations in Australia have come a long way since the critical Mabo High Court case of 1992.

Indigenous corporations and trusts now deal with the flow of many millions of dollars and have unprecedented demands put on them from many angles.  The CATSIA governance standards are stringent, fund managers and developers spruik all sorts of complex schemes to directors and demand from members for well- deserved assistance from royalty streams continues to grow.

Even navigating the relevant government departments charged with Indigenous responsibility can be challenging in itself; federal, state and local governments seem to trip over each other in their sometimes cumbersome and complex efforts to “assist”. 

At the end of the day directors need to tread a difficult path between meeting community demands, being prudent with the equitable and effective distribution of royalties and rigorously assessing numerous commercial opportunities put to them for discussion and consideration. 

The job is not easy. The job is even all the more difficult if the directors are not confident that they have competent and committed fellow Directors, Advisors, CEOs, Finance and Operation Managers and Support Staff working within their Indigenous Corporation.  The Oric register is replete with examples of inappropriate commercial and corporate behaviour by officers of Indigenous corporations.  The cost and impact on members is, in some cases, shameful in include;

1. Wasted royalty money
2. Excessive legal and consulting fees
3. Conflicts of interest
4. Review after review after review followed by even more consultants
5. Unhappy members who are not receiving a fair share of royalties
6. Claims and counter claims of favouritism

…no one appears to win except the city based professional advisers.

The directors and senior specialist staff of Harris Practice Consulting have extensive and first-hand experience within Indigenous Corporations. They recognise and fully understand the need for a specialised Indigenous recruitment service. 

The directors and senior specialist staff of Harris Practice Consulting have a deep history with Indigenous corporations.  The guiding mandate of Harris Practice Consulting is quite simply “People First”. The Harris Practice Consulting process is specifically designed for Indigenous corporations. It is robust, rigorous and focused on the best outcome for the people; the members and beneficiaries. 

Our research and due diligence on the candidates is deep, our assessment of the candidates’ knowledge is exacting and our testing of their true motivations and commitment is based on comprehensive and focused psychometric testing. The result for our Indigenous Corporation clients is quite simply; less risk in recruitment and better outcomes for the people.

Harris Practice Consulting for Indigenous Corporations covers the roles of;

1. CEOs
2. Directors
3. Company Secretaries
4. General Managers
5. Commercial Managers
6. Operational Managers
7. Legal Counsel
8. Finance Managers
9. Accountants
10. Payroll and Support Staff

The impact of the wrong people being engaged at senior levels within Indigenous corporations is just to damaging; and at the end of the day it is the members and beneficiaries who pay the price.

To inquire about current vacancies in the market, salary benchmarks or our recruitment and consulting services please email Geoffrey Harris or call or text on 0408 905 057. We address each and every Indigenous corporation recruitment assignment as a critical step in assisting indigenous people.