Regions
South Australian corporations
This is where we are. The practice is in Maylands, Adelaide — so South Australia is the one region where meeting a board in person is straightforward rather than an expedition.
Being local actually changes something
On the other three regions we work on, we are candid that we are remote and that firms on the ground have an advantage we do not. Here it runs the other way.
Attending an AGM, sitting with a board through a difficult set of accounts, or walking a new CEO through what they have inherited — those are the things distance makes harder, and in South Australia they are simply arrangements in a diary. If your corporation has had a bad year and the board needs someone in the room, that is available here in a way it is not in the Kimberley.
The South Australian landscape
South Australian Native Title Services has been the native title service provider for the state since 1 July 2008, under section 203FE of the Native Title Act, covering the whole of South Australia — roughly 984,000 square kilometres. Much of the state is now subject to a determination of native title or is Aboriginal freehold, with more than 30 determinations since SANTS began.
Checked against South Australian Native Title Services — About SANTS, .
The APY Lands are their own framework
The Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara body corporate was established under the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981 — a South Australian Act — and holds more than 103,000 square kilometres in the far north-west of the state.
That is a land rights framework rather than a native title determination, and it is worth understanding as a distinction rather than assuming everything Indigenous in SA runs through native title. Corporations operating in the region are still registered under the CATSI Act and report to ORIC in the ordinary way.
The APY Lands are also part of the Central Australian art centre network supported from Alice Springs by Desart — so an SA art centre may sit in a Territory-facing sector relationship. See bookkeeping for art centres.
What we do here
- Annual ORIC reporting — general, financial and directors’ reports.
- Bookkeeping and payroll through the year, including grant acquittals.
- CFO and board support — including in person, which is the SA difference.
- Audit below the $5 million tier, for corporations we do not otherwise act for.
Local does not change independence
One thing being nearby does not change: we act as a corporation’s accountant or as its auditor, never both. Proximity makes it easier to do the work; it does not make it acceptable to audit our own.
Frequently asked questions
Are you actually in South Australia?
Yes. The practice is in Maylands, Adelaide. South Australia is the one region where we can meet a board in person without it being an expedition, and where attending an AGM or a difficult board meeting is straightforward.
Who is the native title representative body in SA?
South Australian Native Title Services has been the native title service provider for the state since 1 July 2008, under section 203FE of the Native Title Act. Its area covers the whole of South Australia.
Do the APY Lands work the same way?
Not quite. The APY body corporate was established under the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981 — a South Australian Act — and holds more than 103,000 square kilometres in the state’s far north-west. That is a land rights framework rather than a native title determination, though corporations operating in the region are still registered under the CATSI Act and report to ORIC in the ordinary way.
Can you audit South Australian corporations?
Below the $5 million tier, and only for corporations we do not otherwise act for. Being local does not change either limit — independence is independence.