![\"Peta-Joy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/8586d643d078b3d076aa7ea0ef2e3dda79fd1909.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nAuditors found that while there was no significant expenditure that could be classified as misappropriation, there were transactions, including the \u201csignificant\u201d volume of Uber trips that \u201cmay not be genuinely business-related\u201d.<\/p>\n
The audit has yet to be formally presented to the board, and this masthead is not suggesting any funds were misappropriated.<\/p>\n
However, in early 2024, Aboriginal Affairs NSW issued a non-compliance letter to Gadigal Information Service barring it from applying for funding for two years, emails show.<\/p>\n
In an email to board members and Aboriginal Affairs NSW in March 2024, interim CEO of GIS Tony Duke noted the organisation was in disarray. \u201cWe are an organisation in chaos and a critical situation financially,\u201d he wrote, adding the organisation had unpaid bills exceeding $200,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis work [funded by the government grant] has not been done and the funds are not readily identifiable in our bank accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Member fees have also allegedly gone missing, with members told in a meeting last year to cancel their direct debits as the organisation had no idea which bank account the fees were being deposited into.<\/p>\n
GIS chair Dallas Wellington said the organisation had emerged from a \u201cchallenging period\u201d over the past 20 months, but stated that it was now \u201ca strong and viable organisation that every day goes from strength to strength\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike many grassroots community organisations, there is a vulnerability that comes with the territory,\u201d he said, adding the board and staff are committed to embedding \u201csystems and best practices to ensure that our organisation is appropriately governed and managed in a culturally respectful and publicly accountable manner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Bullying, belittling\u2019 behaviour<\/p>\n
Leha has also been accused of bullying behaviour and poor governance by four current and former GIS and BlaQ board members who have described him as \u201caggressive\u201d, and said Leha shut down those who tried to question the organisation\u2019s management.<\/p>\n
Several sent complaints about Leha\u2019s governance to the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations [ORIC].<\/p>\n
\u201cKoori Radio is the most important piece of Aboriginal community-controlled infrastructure in the country, and it is in dire straits,\u201d a board member who requested anonymity said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m terrified for the organisation \u2026 The Black scene in Sydney is on life support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Board member Peta-Joy Williams, who led the successful vote of no confidence against Leha and the board, said bullying perpetrated by Leha caused her to have anxiety attacks, citing his \u201cintimidating\u201d behaviour in her resignation letter to the board. She later rejoined.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was pure aggression and demeaning,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
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Peta-Joy Williams has accused charity boss John Leha of bullying and poor governance while the pair were on the board at Koori Radio.Credit: Steven Siewert<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just got to the point where every time we had a board meeting, I was going home and crying my eyes out \u2026 He bullied me to the point that I had a full mental breakdown and had to quit my job.\u201d <\/p>\n
Another former board member said Leha wouldn\u2019t respond to questions or criticism.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would scream, just keep shutting people down \u2026 it was impossible to hold him accountable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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