The head of the Anindilyakwa Land Council has been sacked and its office on Groote Eylandt raided by the anti-corruption watchdog as part of - and in response to - an ongoing investigation into corruption allegations.

ALC chief executive Mark Hewitt was stood down this week by the Council's board, the Sydney Morning Herald revealed on Saturday.

Mr Hewitt was originally referred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission in July, five months after hundreds of Anindilyakwa people and Groote Eylandt Traditional Owners had petitioned for an investigation of "potential gross misconduct" in the Council regarding Indigenous royalty distribution.

In August, Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy put the Council's "board and management on notice" and announced a series of measures to tackle governance problems in the body.

The Minister said at the time she had received a copy of the independent review into the progress of the ALC in addressing the recommendations of a governance audit undertaken by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO), and noted the review showed the ALC's governance, operations and decision-making "remain(ed) deficient", and the lack of progress was "unacceptable".

In May, it was reported Mr Hewitt had asked Indigenous leaders to give him and his wife a shareholding in a major minerals project the Council is driving and which will generate an estimated $1 billion in revenue over its 10-year life.

Minister McCarthy said this week that she received a letter from the ALC chair informing her that at its meeting on 16 October 2024, the ALC board resolved to terminate the employment of the ALC chief executive.

"Without the trust of the Anindilyakwa people and other key stakeholders, the ALC cannot properly achieve its mission of serving and advocating for the interests of the Anindilyakwa people," she said, the SMH reports.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission raided the ALC's office this week.

Mr Hewitt, a non-Indigenous man, was appointed ALC chief executive in 2011. In 2018, he sought appointment as co-CEO of Winchelsea Mining – the company responsible for developing the minerals project, over which the Council he led would exercise major influence.

Leaked confidential documents obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald revealed Mr Hewitt's request was initially endorsed by several Anindilyakwa leaders. They are the guardians of the remote tract of pristine water and land off the eastern coast of Arnhem Land, including Winchelsea Island, where manganese was to be mined.

Mr Hewitt argued his hard work and ingenuity had been crucial to the Anindilyakwa's progression of the mining venture. He also provided legal advice that argued his play for a shareholding would not be unusual in the private sector. However, the Land Council is not a private sector body and the SMH reports his share plan "unravelled" after a Council lawyer discovered the deal.

As the CEO of a native title body, Mr Hewitt was in effect a salaried public official held to account by federal laws designed to safeguard Aboriginal land council resources.

The 2023 Australian National Audit Office to which Senator McCarthy referred to in her warning to the Council found the ALC did not properly manage conflict of interest issues that may arise with its employees.