Mark Dreyfus silent on NAAJA funding shift following Priscilla Atkins judgment

The Attorney-General has refused to say whether taxpayer funds should be reallocated from embattled NAAJA in the wake of Federal Court findings that the board unlawfully sacked its former CEO.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has refused to say whether taxpayer funds should be reallocated from the embattled North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency in the wake of Federal Court findings that the board unlawfully sacked its former CEO after she raised serious corruption allegations against senior staff members.

Calls have ramped up for the government to take “meaningful action” over the “poor governance” of NAAJA, following revelations chair Hugh Woodbury abused his pregnant partner by standing on her stomach, slamming her arm in a door and calling her a “c..t” in front of their two-year-old child.

Federal Court judge Natalie Charlesworth on Thursday ruled the NAAJA board acted unlawfully in firing former CEO Priscilla Atkins after she raised allegations of corruption against finance chief Madhur Evans.

Justice Charlesworth also found the board acted unfairly when instigating a so-called independent audit targeting Ms Atkins, and said then chair Colleen Rosas deliberately withheld information from the audit, conduct “not consistent with a genuine desire” for the audit to make fair and factual findings.

The outcome of the Federal Court case and ongoing concerning activity within NAAJA – which culminated in a mass exodus of staff and the agency having to suspend services in Alice Springs for several months – has led to lawyers and MPs calling for the board to be “hosed out” and replaced entirely. NAAJA receives $20m a year in federal government funding under the National Legal Assistance Partnership, currently under a routine review by Mr Dreyfus and state and territory attorneys-general, following a report conducted by independent auditor Warren Mundy.

Asked on Friday if he believed NAAJA funding should be reallocated, to ensure taxpayers’ money is given to organisations that have the capacity to assist Aboriginal people who need legal help, a spokesperson for Mr Dreyfus said the government was “focused on the maintenance of legal services to Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory”.

“The government has made clear that we are concerned about governance issues at NAAJA and its ability to maintain these services. We are working with the NT government on these issues,” the spokesperson said.

NT senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney. Picture: Martin Ollman / NewsWire

The $20m is administered by the federal government, through the NT Attorney-General’s department. A department spokesperson on Friday said it was reviewing the Federal Court decision and would “consider its ­options and any further action”. “NAAJA is a not-for-profit organisation and is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commissions and Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission,” the spokesperson said. “AGD and the commonwealth government do not have the power to remove the NAAJA board.”

Meanwhile, opposition Indigenous affairs spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price attacked Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney for refusing to take “meaningful action” to resolve ongoing chaos gripping the country’s largest Aboriginal legal service.

Senator Price said the court judgment was “yet another strike against the poor governance and management of NAAJA”. “To this day, there is no evidence that the Albanese government has any meaningful desire to improve the management and leadership of NAAJA,” she said.

The National Indigenous Australians Agency is providing $9.8m to NAAJA this financial year to deliver non-legal aid activities. Ms Burney did not respond to a request for comment.