Federal Court finds factional and 'oppressive' control in South West Aboriginal Medical Service
SWAMS members and police during the confrontation in June last year. (ABC South West WA: Bridget McArthur)
In short:
The Federal Court has found "oppressive conduct" and factional control within the South West Aboriginal Medical Service.
The court ruled that expulsion notices sent by the board to 20 members and a director were invalid and unfair.
What's next?
Plaintiffs have indicated they seek orders to declare expulsions invalid and hold a new board election.
The board of one of Western Australia's largest Aboriginal community health services used factional control and "oppressive conduct" to avoid scrutiny and unfairly expel members and a director, a Federal Court judge has found.
The ruling follows 12 months of tumult within the South West Aboriginal Medical Service (SWAMS), a not-for-profit with about 1,200 members across Noongar country in southern WA.
Tensions culminated in the storming of the SWAMS office in Bunbury, 170 kilometres south of Perth, in June last year by members and founding elders calling for the deposal of current chair Phillip Ugle and former chair-turned-director, Ernie Hill.
Legal action was taken against the service over a subsequent decision to expel 20 members, including director and lead plaintiff Lesley Ugle.
In his judgement Justice Craig Colvin said Mr Ugle and Mr Hill used factional control over the board of directors to maintain their control over SWAMS' affairs and avoid scrutiny of members and other directors.
"Having regard to the characteristics of SWAMS, their conduct is oppressive,"Justice Colvin said.
In a statement released by SWAMS on Wednesday, Mr Ugle said the service was considering its next steps and appeal options.
"The actions taken by the board were made in what we understood to be the best interests of the organisation and its members, and within governance processes that we believed to be appropriate at the time," he said.
"We respectfully disagree with aspects of the court’s conclusions, which will be considered through the appropriate legal processes."
Mr Ugle said the delivery of SWAMS clinical services remained unaffected.
"Our priority continues to be the wellbeing of our community and the continued delivery of quality, culturally responsive health services."
The incident saw SWAMS members meet in the lobby of the Bunbury building, after they were refused access to the main offices. (ABC South West WA: Bridget McArthur)
Local nurse and former board member Donna Turvey was among those expelled last year.
She welcomed Justice Colvin's judgement on Tuesday.
"Justice was served today," she said.
"Not only for the elders of our community but for the community in general."
Tensions over leadership
Tensions have been mounting around SWAMS' leadership group for over a year.
In August 2024, lawyers provided an independent report to the board recommending Mr Hill be removed as a director.
Mr Hill was serving a 15-month suspension while being investigated for alleged misconduct related to the provision of NDIS services by his business, Maaladjiny.
"Nevertheless, subsequently, at a time when Mr Phillip Ugle was the chairperson of the board, a decision was made by the board not to expel Mr Hill and also to pay him remuneration for the period in which he had been stood down pending the independent investigation," Justice Colvin said.
Last year, members and elders tried to move resolutions of no confidence against Mr Hill and Mr Ugle as directors, and to install an elder representative to the board.
Neither was successful.
Ms Ugle was present during the incident at the SWAMS office and described it to the court as "a peaceful protest to again request that the board appoint an elder's representative."
Police were called and the elders were removed, though no charges were laid.
Police attend the SWAMS headquarters in Bunbury after a confrontation between management and members. (ABC South West WA: Bridget McArthur)
Days later, the SWAMS board decided to expel Lesley Ugle as a member.
In September last year, Ms Ugle and 20 other members, including founding elders of the charity, were given notice of expulsion.
In the copied letters sent out to members, SWAMS cited the alleged storming and hijacking of board meetings and speaking to the media as reasons for expulsion.
Expulsions were not valid
Justice Colvin ruled that the expulsions of Ms Ugle and the 20 members were invalid.
He found the expulsion notices lacked genuine reasons justifying the decision to expel the members, meaning they were unable to address those reasons in their appeal.
"As they did not accord procedural fairness in that respect, the notices of expulsion are not valid and effective," Justice Colvin said.
In the case of Ms Ugle, Justice Colvin said Mr Hill and Mr Ugle gave differing reasons for her suspension and expulsion, including conflicts of interest, failure to uphold directors' duties, and breaching confidentiality.
Lesley Ugle said the SWAMS board did not follow due process to remove her. (ABC South West WA: Bridget McArthur)
"The real reason for the attempts to exclude Ms Ugle was to maintain control by Mr Hill and Mr Ugle over the SWAMS board and to remove those who would require accountability," Justice Colvin said.
The plaintiffs have indicated that they seek a declaration that all of the expulsion notices issued in September last year are invalid.
The plaintiffs also seek to hold elections for all six member-director positions on the board.
Final orders will be decided in the Federal Court on February 26.