Indigenous leader Geoff Clark stole $1m ‘for legal fees’, court hears

Former senior Indigenous leader Geoff Clark argues he used hundreds of thousands of dollars he stole from Aboriginal organisations not to support a ‘lavish lifestyle’ but to cover some of his personal legal fees.

Geoff Clark outside the County Court of Victoria in Melbourne on Wednesday. Picture: NewsWire / Tamati Smith

Former senior Indigenous leader Geoff Clark argues he used hundreds of thousands of dollars he stole from Aboriginal organisations not to support a “lavish lifestyle” but to cover some of his personal legal fees including to defend historical allegations of rape.

Clark appeared before County Court Judge Michael O’Connell for a pre-sentencing plea hearing in Melbourne on Wednesday after having been found guilty of stealing almost $1m from Aboriginal organisations in which he was involved.

The 72-year-old was convicted in three secret County Court trials that ran between December 2023 and May 2024 but the convictions were kept secret under suppression orders until they were lifted last week.

Clark, the former chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, stole more than $922,000 from Kirrae Whurrong Community Inc, Maar Land Council and Framlingham Aboriginal Trust over the course of 15 years.

The court heard that more than $400,000 of the funds was used to cover some of Clark’s legal fees between 2000 and 2005, when he was facing historical rape allegations, unfair dismissal proceedings and an obstructing police charge arising from an incident at the Criterion Hotel in Warrnambool in 2002, for which he was found guilty.

On Wednesday, Clark’s barrister Simon Kenny told the court that while Clark had breached his community’s trust and committed multiple acts of criminality over a long period of time, he did not use the funds to support a “lavish lifestyle”.

“Regard should be had to what was done with those funds,” Mr Kenny said.

Mr Kenny told the court Clark had “effectively devoted his entire life to advancing the interests of Aboriginal people in Australia through tireless advocacy and activism” after growing up experiencing racism and disadvantage.

“He experienced the disadvantage that Aboriginal people experience … and he fought against that,” Mr Kenny said.

Mr Kenny spoke of Clark’s attendance at a number of United Nations meetings and meetings with high-profile individuals such as Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama and numerous prime ministers of Australia.

He said Framlingham was and remained Clark’s home and that Clark continued to be “actively involved in his community”.

The court also heard Clark was found to have stolen $400,000 from the Framlingham Aboriginal Trust, to have directed Framlingham Aboriginal Trust and Kirrae Whurrong Community Inc to cover expenses on his personal properties, and to have unlawfully accepted money from eel fishermen.

Overall, juries found Clark guilty of 25 charges, including 17 counts of theft, four counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception, two counts of perjury, giving false testimony, and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Clark, who is on bail, appeared in court in person alongside his son, Jeremy Clark, 51, who had his plea hearing concurrently following convictions against him of frauds to the value of more than $231,000. Geoff and Jeremy Clark’s plea hearings will continue on Thursday.