Supporting Indigenous businesses to interact with our department

We have completed the second phase of user-centred research into better supporting Indigenous businesses.
16 December 2020
  • News

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Corporate
Indigenous artwork shows a Yuyang (glossy black cockatoo) depicted in dark green with wildflowers depicted in green, a pink feather and gumnuts depicted in aqua

The Supporting Indigenous Business Project Phase Two report is now available. Credit: Amy Tracey

Our department is proud to announce that the report from the second phase of the Supporting Indigenous Business Project is now available.

The project aims to support a vibrant growing Indigenous business sector by exploring needs of Indigenous business owners and improving how they interact with government.

The first phase of the project was completed in 2018. It identified opportunities to address the challenges faced by Indigenous businesses.

The second phase of the project ran from July to November 2019. It focussed on developing solutions our department can implement to realise these opportunities. It also explored what future cross agency collaborative projects might look like.

Phase two included 4 work streams:

  • Procurement and meaningful feedback. The research identified 12 solutions to improve how our staff use Indigenous suppliers and give feedback. 
  • Building the skills of mainstream support providers. The research identified 39 potential solutions to improve Indigenous businesses’ interactions with and access to the Entrepreneurs' Programme, an example for other mainstream support programs.
  • Ecosystem mapping. The project team developed a draft ecosystem map with 133 federal government programs aimed at supporting businesses (29 Indigenous specific, 104 mainstream). These spanned 21 federal government agencies.
  • Role models. An Indigenous communications specialist developed a communications strategy to inspire future Indigenous business owners using Indigenous business role models.

The project team engaged with over 20 Indigenous businesses and 600 government stakeholders. BizLab led the team, which included representatives of our procurement and financial policy team and Industry Growth division. The former Department of the Environment and Energy also contributed to the research.

We strongly encourage stakeholders with an interest in supporting indigenous business to engage with the insights of both phases of this exciting work. 

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Contact us

Email bizlab@industry.gov.au