Key facts
- Jonathan Law was disqualified for six years and ordered to pay the commonwealth $50,000.
- Michael Wilson was disqualified for 10 years and ordered to pay $20,000.
- Geoffrey Clayton was disqualified for five years and ordered to pay $20,000.
- The three were ordered to pay a combined $17,000 toward the plaintiff's costs.
- Kennett found the directors failed to manage conflicts of interest and caused detriment to ACBF members.
- Former chief Bryn Jones was found to have breached his duties; his penalty will be set at a later hearing.
Three former directors of Youpla Group, the collapsed funeral fund insurer previously known as the Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund, were disqualified from managing corporations and ordered to pay a combined $90,000 on November 11, 2026. Federal court justice Geoffrey Kennett ordered Jonathan Law to pay the commonwealth $50,000 and disqualified him for six years. Michael Wilson was ordered to pay $20,000 and disqualified for 10 years, and Geoffrey Clayton was ordered to pay $20,000 and disqualified for five years. The trio were also ordered to pay a combined $17,000 toward the plaintiff's costs.
Kennett found the directors failed to perform their duties with the degree of care and diligence expected, failed to manage conflicts of interest, and caused a detriment to ACBF members. The judgment followed a ruling in late October 2026 in which founder Ron Pattenden was ordered to pay $250,000 and barred from managing corporations for 15 years. Pattenden acknowledged he had breached directors' duties in a claim settlement with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. In the same judgment, former Youpla chief Bryn Jones was found to have breached his directorial duties after a contested liability hearing in February; he denied knowledge of the fund's insurance premium increases, and his penalty will be determined at a later hearing.
Youpla sold funeral policies to Indigenous people across Australia for decades, including in communities where English was not the first language and communities with low literacy levels. It collapsed in March 2022, leaving more than 13,000 Aboriginal people, some elderly and in palliative care, without the means to pay for funerals. Families resorted to crowdfunding, and some left loved ones' bodies in the morgue while they raised funds.
ASIC began federal court proceedings in August 2023 against five former directors and officers, alleging governance failures and director misconduct affecting First Nations members of the funds. It alleged the directors maintained insurance arrangements with Crown Insurance, a Vanuatu-based company owned and controlled by Pattenden and Law, and did not act in the best interest of the ACBF entities and members. Breaches of directors' duties can attract a maximum penalty of $200,000 for each breach between 2017 and March 2019.
The federal court fined Youpla $1.2 million in September 2023 for misrepresenting funeral policies, finding it had told plan holders they would receive a lump sum when they would only be reimbursed for expenses they could prove. Youpla avoided paying millions more in fines handed down in July 2025 because it was in liquidation. A $97 million federal government support package was announced in February 2024, and payments to remaining victims will continue to be processed until December 1, 2026, with eligible recipients able to choose a funeral bond or a cash payment worth 60% of their policy value.