National Congress of Australia's First Peoples


The National Congress of Australia's First Peoples is the national representative body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. The Congress was incorporated as a Company Limited by Guarantee in April 2010. As a company the Congress is owned and controlled by its membership and is independent of Government. Its Co-Chairs are Dr Jackie Huggins and Rod Little. Chamber Directors, other , are Venessa Curnow, Katie Kiss, Mark McMillan, Gerry Moore and Daphne Yarram. The male Chamber 1 Director position is currently vacant, but will be filled in the coming months. Co-Chairs are elected for a term of two years. Chamber Directors are elected for four year terms, three at each election every two years.

Corporate structure

The Congress is a Public Company limited by guarantee.
The was held in June 2011, with subsequent meetings in September 2012, July 2013 and October 2015. The 120 delegates nominate every 2 years to attend the annual forum.
Chambers 1 & 2 hold elections for their 40 delegates. Organisations that are members of those chambers have the right to vote for these delegates.
Individual Congress Members that nominate to be in Chamber 3 are assessed against criteria by both the Ethics Council and the National Board. Gender parity and adequate representation of the membership are included as part of the process to pick the 40 members for this chamber.
The Board is supported by an – a special body of experts who provide independent advice on standards and guidelines

Reception

er Mick Gooda welcomed the formation as a milestone moment for Indigenous Australians.
Northern Land Council CEO Kim Hill also welcomed the formation of the Congress. Aboriginal activist Noel Pearson criticised the Congress as "a blackfella's wailing wall". Australian conservative journalist and political commentator Andrew Bolt has described the Congress as funding "professional aborigines" instead of Aboriginal people "you imagine your taxes helping".

Later history

In 2013 the Australian government withdrew funding of the Congress.