Gavin Morris, former principal fighting assault charges, gets new gig at Lhere Artepe in Alice Springs
An Alice Springs Aboriginal Corporation has got a new manager – and he’s currently before the courts fighting charges of aggravated assaults against kids.
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A former principal – who’s before the courts on charges of aggravated assault – has gotten a new gig at an Alice Springs Aboriginal corporation, a fortnight after the interim chief executive resigned.
Gavin Morris, the former principal of Alice Springs’ Yipirinya School, is now working as a program manager at Lhere Artepe Aboriginal Corporation.
Mr Morris is months away from a hearing in the Alice Springs Local Court, where he will contest charges of historical aggravated assaults against children.
He has pleaded not guilty, and is believed to be living interstate.
In the wake of Mr Morris being charged, he was stood down with pay from the school.
Mr Morris filed an unfair dismissal claim against his former employer, but it was dismissed by Fair Work Commission deputy president Abbey Beaumont in April due to Mr Morris not responding to any of the Commission’s correspondence.
Mr Morris also used to sit on the Alice Springs Town Council, until he resigned from the role in March this year.
Council voted to leave his position vacant until local government elections are held later this year.
Mr Morris’ job with the corporation comes at a tumultuous time for Lhere Artepe, who within the last year have had their former chair plead guilty to domestic violence, and separately two chief executives resign, and a “disturbance” at the Alice Springs office.
At the end of May, interim chief executive Jane Ndove stepped down from the corporation due to “eight months of persistent threats”.
Lhere Artepe is now looking for its third chief executive in eight months, after Scott McConnell resigned from the role in September last year.
Weeks before Ms Ndove left her role, on May 8, NT Police said they responded to a “disturbance” at the corporation’s Gap Rd office in Alice Springs.
Two men were served trespass notices when the police attended, a police spokesperson has previously confirmed.
It is understood staff have since returned to the office.
Last year, former Lhere Artepe Chair Benedict Stevens pleaded guilty to assaulting his partner with a stick and was given a six month suspended sentence.
He is no longer the chair of the corporation.
Lhere Artepe is a taxpayer funded corporation, which gets funding through the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA), a federal body.
The NIAA said the corporation will receive $2,334,344.44 from the agency to deliver the Traditional Owner Community Patrol service from 2024 to 2026.
Gavin Morris and Lhere Artepe were contacted for comment.
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