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Box 11.5.5 (continued)The Trust has won many awards, for example, the Sir Rupert Hamer Award forExcellence and Innovation in Records Management for the Koorie Heritage Archive;the Minister’s Encouragement Award at the 2004 Victorian Tourism Awards; and theBest Learning Award from the Australian Interactive Media Industry for ‘Missionvoices’. In 2005 the Trust won the inaugural Indigenous Governance Award. It has alsowon Victorian Tourism Awards in 2005 and 2006 for Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander Tourism; the 2006 National Indigenous Tourism Conference Gnukai Award;and the 2006 Wurreker Community Based Employer Award.In late 2005, significant changes were imposed on the Trust’s funding. Despite14 years of annual funding from one program, the Trust learned at short notice that itwould no longer be funded for work with ‘moveable culture’ (that is, its extensivecollection). The Trust was advised to apply to another department for support, but noarrangements had been made between the departments and no support was available.The Trust successfully lobbied for interim funding, undertook extensive fund raisingand diversified its activities to qualify for alternative sources of funds. The Trustcontinues to work on longer term strategies to address the ongoing funding issue.The loss of funding greatly affected the Trust’s administrative capacity, as funds werediverted from management to maintain vital programs. Only strong governance hasallowed the Trust to continue to provide valuable services to Koorie and non-Indigenous people in Victoria while dealing with fragmented, uncertain fundingarrangements.Source: Koorie Heritage Trust (unpublished).The following discussion draws on the preliminary findings of the IndigenousCommunity Governance Project (box 11.5.2), and the Reconciliation Australia/BHPBilliton Indigenous Governance Awards (boxes 11.5.6 and 11.5.7).Box 11.5.6 Indigenous Governance AwardsThe Indigenous Governance Awards are a partnership project betweenReconciliation Australia and BHP Billiton, established in 2005, to encourage, rewardand promote best practice in Indigenous governance.The Awards are open to all Indigenous community organisations incorporated underlegislation. In 2006, separate awards were made for organisations over and under 10years of age. Applications are assessed against the following criteria:1. How legitimate, representative and accountable is the governing body?2. How effective is the administration function?(Continued next page)ECONOMICPARTICIPATION ANDDEVELOPMENT11.53