Charles is an experienced non-executive director with experience in governance and leadership within a community control framework, community engagement, strategic planning, and business development and implementation in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities.
Charles is the President of the Torres Strait Cooperative Society Ltd (Thursday Island). He has been an active non-executive director of this organisation since 2011 (13 years).
The Torres Strait, also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mainland. In the 2016 Australian census, the population of the Torres Strait was recorded as 4,514 on the Islands.
Any housing allocation in the Torres Strait is focused on matching applicants to housing that closely meets their needs and entitlements (household make-up and changes needed for people with a disability).
Charles provides significant insights to the Board on remote housing challenges, including costs, allocation practices, cost of development and the maintenance and repairs in remote Australia along with the challenges of climate change and operating an Indigenous Community Housing Organisation (ICHO) is a remote island location.
Charles is passionate about helping improve the health and welfare of all underprivileged people, especially in those in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. He strongly believes that good health and education begin when people have decent and safe housing.
Charles has connections to the people of Biogu Island (part of the ‘Top Western’ Islands group) of the Torres Strait and currently lives and works on Thursday Island.