A focus on business and education are the keys to Indigenous self-determination, former AFL star and Australian of the Year Adam Goodes has said.
Speaking at the launch of a new taskforce to lead the growth of Indigenous businesses in NSW, on Tuesday, he was joined by David Harris, NSW Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty, and businesswoman Terri-Anne Daniel at the NSW Indigenous Chamber of Commerce in Redfern, Sydney.
Goodes said the taskforce would support the “wellbeing and prosperity” of Indigenous Australians as government power is shifted to the Aboriginal community, providing agency for self-determination.
“We as Indigenous business people, cultural people, we can look after our own people,” Goodes, chief executive of the Indigenous Defence and Infrastructure Consortium and former Sydney Swan, added.
“I’m really proud to be able to stand here along with my other fellow members of this advisory to share our journey, our story, our experiences, but more importantly about how we can help for the future, for the future generations of business owners, but also those Indigenous young people out there who have ideas and how we engage them.
“Because the agency, the connection to their culture, the confidence they have in themselves, is important in building them as strong, passionate, spiritual, Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander people.
“So, for me, the focus on business and also education are the key two areas in my mind.”
Over the next two years and through community and education, the taskforce will drive economic support and business growth for Indigenous business owners and young Indigenous Australians, providing broader access to aspects of business such as capital, and towards policymaking change.
Harris said the taskforce was a key initiative in the Minns government’s Closing the Gap strategy.
“Closing the gap is about making sure that Aboriginal community is on an equal footing with the rest of the community,” he said.
“I think as a nation, we can all grow together through supporting Aboriginal business.”
Members of the new taskforce all have experience in entrepreneurship and running Aboriginal businesses in NSW, which will be used to inform government decision-making.
About 30 per cent of national Aboriginal businesses are located in NSW while, according to the Dilin Duwa Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership, some 116,000 people are employed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses in Australia, generating $16 billion in revenue a year.
We’re not just creating jobs, we’re fostering independence, self-determination, and long-term prosperity for our people. Who better to help Mob than Mob?
“[It’s important] that we create abilities that even regional entrepreneurs can have access to, the things that they need to champion and grow their business and be successful, and not be limited by where or who they are, or what their education is,” said Daniel.
“If they’ve got that dream and they’ve got the vision and they’ve got the concepts they can help bring those to life, and we can help make those policy changes that allow that to happen.
“For every dollar spent on an Indigenous business, we create $4.41 of impact.
“When Aboriginal businesses thrive, communities thrive. We’re not just creating jobs, we’re fostering independence, self-determination, and long-term prosperity for our people. Who better to help Mob than Mob?
“[The taskforce will] ensure that Aboriginal business owners, like myself, have a direct line to government decision-makers.”
Harris added the removal of barriers for Indigenous business owners was a commitment of the taskforce, and that their voices would be heard by the NSW Government.
“Some of the key issues that are still affecting Aboriginal businesses include access to financial capital, insurance requirements and availability, targeted business support, digital inclusion, land access and use, supporting women into business and procurement policies,” Harris said.
“It [the taskforce] recognises that self-determination and economic independence [are] key drivers to closing the gap.
“They’ll [the taskforce members] be able to look at the direction that the government’s taking when it comes to economic development, and give us key advice about how those policies might work on the ground, whether they will work or not, and hopefully provide that important advice that we can make sure that we direct grants and funding and support to the community to be most effective.”
Goodes, one of eight appointees to the taskforce, said he felt he had a role to play in giving back to the state.
“I have an opportunity after working in the Indigenous business sector here in NSW for over 13 years, and I have a duty to help the next generation, to help those Indigenous businesses out there that got through COVID,” he added.
“You know that, in itself, was a huge achievement, that those businesses didn’t fall over. But now we’ve got to help them grow.
“We’ve got to help Indigenous businesses who are finding it hard to get capital infusion into them so they can grow their business.
“All these are all opportunities that are on the table and [I’m] really excited that‘s where the taskforce gets to give our experiences and knowledge to that conversation.”
Main image of Terri-Anne Daniel, Adam Goodes and David Harris by Abigail Verdal-Austin.
