To the six million Australians that voted Yes and are asking where to from here? Part of the answer must be Economic Reconciliation.
Economic Reconciliation is a commitment to make space for First Nation way of life where values, practices and sovereignty are respected. It is the inclusion of First Peoples, communities, and business in all aspects of economic activity.
First Nations communities continue to face multiple barriers to fully participating in the economy, despite recognition of rights and title to lands.
This paper outlines good practice aligned to First Nations economic development, separated into two interrelated dimensions - procurement and employment.
Part 1: Economic Reconciliation benefits all Australians (Procurement)
Australia’s First Nations business sector has grown significantly over the past five years, both in terms of size and scale.
The number of First Nations businesses is estimated to have increased by over 47 per cent in the five years preceding the 2021 Census with their collective contribution to the Australian economy increasing by at least 59%. [PwC, Mandarin, 2023]
In real 2021 terms, this is a contribution in the range of $8.5bn to $12bn, accounting for roughly 0.4 per cent to 0.6 per cent of Australia's GDP in 2021.
These increases are, in part, driven by the scaling up of First Nations businesses (more First Nations businesses are also now employers) and their diversification (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entrepreneurs are working in more varied and productive industries such as health care and social assistance and transport, postal and warehousing).
This provides greater opportunities for industry to diversify their suppliers and lift First Nations involvement in their operations
Good practice in First Nations' procurement
The Business Council of Australia (BCA) has developed a strategy that focuses on First Nations employment, and economic and cultural empowerment.
This includes their Raising the Bar initiative which commenced in 2019 and aims to see BCA members steadily increase their procurement spending with First Nations suppliers.
The initiative is on track to reach and exceed their target of $3 billion in cumulative influenceable spend on procurement from First Nations businesses by 2024/25.
BCA has conducted their Indigenous Engagement Survey of members on a biennial basis since 2009. The survey has collected quantifiable evidence over time in achieving a range of objectives regarding First Nations engagement, employment and procurement strategies.
This evidence includes the initiatives that companies have adopted to drive sustained improvements in the number of First Nations suppliers, which include:
establishing First Nations supplier and procurement targets
flexibility to improve First Nations business outcomes such as
unbundling larger contracts
preferring First Nations enterprises using weightings
providing information sessions about emerging procurement opportunities
defining and documenting local First Nations suppliers and engaging with those networks.
surveying the First Nations supplier network to better understand the challenges they face and considering ways to ameliorate those challenges
tailoring procurement learning events and master classes to First Nations businesses.
The International Council on Mining & Metals (ICMM) have issued the Good Practice Guide Indigenous Peoples and Mining which contains guidance on strengthening First Nations communities’ asset base.
This includes strategies to promote First Nations procurement in the supply chain, such as:
requiring successful tenderers to have plans and programs for First Nations training and employment
guiding and encouraging contractors to create business opportunities for First Nations peoples eg as their subcontractors
recognition and investment into relationship building which is key to developing business opportunities with First Nations peoples
creating business opportunities.
ICMM also suggest a range of actions to build capacity and provide economic opportunities for First Nations including:
training First Nations groups on business and management practices
incubating and supporting new businesses
ensure tendering and procurement services provide opportunities for local First Nations business
assist local businesses to become compliant with operational requirements e.g. occupational health and safety
help with access to finance ranging from funding microcredit schemes to funding bank loans
identify suitable partners for joint ventures
formalise local procurement and capacity building of First Nations-owned business through legal agreements.
Lack of access to capital and the hurdles to generating own-source revenue are two well-known barriers as outlined by Institute for Sustainable Finance. Henvey Inlet First Nation, Pattern Energy and First Nations Finance Authority case study provides good insight into the factors for success.
We need to hear more success stories like this so critical decision makers inside of investment and financing bodies together with industry leaders can reimagine what’s possible!
My experience is success breeds success. I am, I work with, and I live amongst, Traditional Owners in Australia who are following a very similar approach; and after 28 years working to achieve Economic Reconciliation it’s exciting to hear from their Chairs and Directors the changing landscape and shift in power dynamics.
During my time at Australian National University as a visiting Honorary Aboriginal Fellow, Centre of Aboriginal Economic Policy Research I led and co-authored a research paper with Dr. Kirrily Jordan which studied the equity imbalance in Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUAs).
This included interviews with 7 Native Title Party Representative Corporations and industry representatives, to explore the issues associated with power imbalances in negotiations through to governance arrangements and how many ILUA commitments had been delivered post consent to disturb country.
The findings were staggering regarding the systemic industry non-compliance with the terms of agreements, and Traditional Owners having no mechanism to enforce or penalise the proponent - despite the damage to country already being done.
It also highlighted that whilst industry was mostly compliant with royalty payments, more innovative wealth creation through Economic Reconciliation initiatives were often not implemented in a meaningful way.
A contributing factor was certainly the lack of capacity and/or capital for Traditional Owners, however the Windfalls of Change case study offers the solutions which can be applied in an Australian context.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are ready to go
There are an increasing number of "shovel ready" First Nations communities in Australia, who just need industry to genuinely partner - in similar ways to Pattern Energy.
There are First Nations led Alliances comprising highly effective and experienced Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who can support navigate these strategic approaches, such as First Nations Clean Energy Alliance and the First Nations Heritage Alliance's Dhawura Ngilan Business and Investor Initiative.
First Australians Capital provides a range of resources to First Nations businesses, including professional services, networking, and access to financial capital.
Their vision is "To create a new economy driven by First Australians. A new economy driven by First Australian business is a powerful economic contributor to community and inter-generational wealth creation."
Indigenous Business Australia has provided business development, grants and loans, and business mentorship for decades.
There are many First Nations consultants such as Ninti Kata that work to support industry and First Nation stakeholders to co-design innovative, equitable and effective approaches and solutions.
There is a strong mandate on sustainable investment and a raft of investors and financial institutions who have changed the way they invest to support Economic Reconciliation.
Despite this, whilst there are many examples of pockets of good practices in Australia - it isn't systemic, financial exclusion remains a significant issue for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and there is a cyclical tendency towards failed, well intended attempts at achieving economic growth and equality.
The Tier 1 Sponsorship Model which appears in ICMM’s Good Practice Guide was co-designed and implemented by Ninti Kata’s Managing Director Erin Woolford.
The socioeconomic benefits that flowed included a 400% year on year increase in spending with First Nations companies and $20 million in income flowing into regional and remote Aboriginal households.
Erin was awarded South Australian Woman in Resources and appointed as a First Nations Thought Leader on the Mineral Council of Australia Reconciliation Committee in recognition of this work.
Part 2: Economic Reconciliation benefits all Australians (Employment)
Earlier in my career, I led one of the country's largest Indigenous Employment Centres and oversaw the Community Development Employment Program in eighty percent of regional and remote South Australia. My team and I helped over 2,000 First Nation people find ongoing employment, and for many of these job seekers and their families, they had previously experienced intergenerational unemployment.
Two key lessons emerged: First, Aboriginal people don't need more training centers, as technical skills are easily acquired. The main barrier to employment, is the belief that mainstream opportunities are not available, nor intended, for Aboriginal people. An engrained intergenerational belief, that has arisen as a result of past government policy - but is reinforced every day in Australia, through the racist institutions and blindspot that Australians have regarding the country's true history. This was polarised with the voice referendum defeat.
Second, an economic development strategy must be anchored in cultural safety and include tailored strategies aligned to four key elements if it is to be successful - 1. Attraction and value proposition 2 Recruitment and Retention (inc. Special Measures) 3. Professional Development and Gender Equity and 4. Cultural Safety (integrated vs. standalone or living in another part of the business).
Of the 2,0000 First Nations' job seekers placed into employment, the single greatest barrier to First Nations economic reconciliation was ignorance and racism - and it was this, that perpetuated the belief amongst First Nations communities, that these opportunities were unattainable.
Unfortunately, Australia's has a blindspot. Due to historical failings in the education system in Australia, the truth regarding the brutality of the colonial regime was not taught. Instead history in schools in Australia, perpetuated the "settler, swagging by the river".
Compounding the impact of the education systems failures, is the ongoing whitewashing of our country's history whilst First Nations' leaders efforts are extinguished at every turn (the Voice Referendum and Truth Commission are key examples).
It is therefore critical that Truth Telling occur within workplaces, so that we can correct this blindspot for so many millions of Australians and start to heal as a nation.
The landscape of laws, policies and power imbalances is largely unchanged in Australia and ethical business leaders will need to push their companies beyond what is legal, to what is ethical, to ensure we protect and respect the world’s oldest surviving culture.
4 Key Principles and Focus Areas that are present in Good Practice Economic Development Strategies (Employment)
The interrelated and interdependent components that are critical to designing successful First Nations employment strategies are:
1.Attraction and Value Proposition
The following are key actions that employers should consider, to define their First Nations' employee value proposition (EVP) and inform tailored messaging:
Understand what your company offers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees. This will inform how you market your company to your First Nations target audience, and what information you might include in your communication.
Benchmark how your company differentiates from your competitors and ensure that you actually do have a competitive advantage - are you leading, lagging / following?
Ensure there is consistency in application of the EVP across your business. Do/say gaps through First Nation employee experiences will undermine any future efforts and is counterintuitive, particularly given how networked First Nation communities are, and how quickly messaging will travel. If there is a perception your organisation has been disingenuous or broken trust, this will impact retention but also future recruitment.
Consider how your company values align to First Nations' values and assess whether your company protects, respects and upholds First Nations' peoples inherent human rights.
2.Recruitment and Retention (inc. Special Measures)
It is critical that interventions in business processes, regarding recruitment and/or retention (including but not limited to applying special measures) are evidenced based and have been designed to address identified gaps.
Ninti Kata offers our clients an independent First Nations’ led Cultural Needs Assessment in advance of designing or co-designing any strategy. Our company also provides practical recommendations that are tailored, relevant to the operating context and aligned to good practice, therefore ensuring the investment made by the client, delivers results and is fit for purpose.
3.Professional Development and Gender Equity
Special measures should apply to pathways into your company, and equitable access to development and promotional opportunities.
Ninti Kata can provide support to your company to identify gaps or where your policy framework is perpetuating disadvantage, and tailor recommended approaches. However, as a general rule your company should consider:
Learning and Development
that you offer culturally appropriate mentoring services to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and permit the employee to self-nominate who they want to support them.
that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees are provided the opportunity to discuss their Employee Development Plan every six months with their manager’s leader as additional support to advancing their career aspirations.
that you apply ‘special measure’ provisions to the application of the Learning and Development Policy to preference Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees’ participation in further education and assist in closing the gap in educational attainment and support career progression.
you consider how you can support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees to undertake study hours during normal work times, acknowledging First Nations households in Australia are more than 3 times as likely as other households to be overcrowded.
that you develop a strategy in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advisors and employees to implement and periodically test the efficacy of recommendations (in terms of how they are operationalised).
If your company needs support with unpacking why special measures must apply to your gender equity agenda, I recommend you engage BlackCard to deliver their Domestic and Family Violence 3-hour virtual program.
BlackCard's training provides an understanding of Violence Against Women and Children, and then explores this in the context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Violence Against Women and Children. It also provides critical information regarding how for First Nations women, gender inequality intersects with the impact of racism and ongoing injustice.
Despite struggle and determination, the experiences and voices of First Nations women and girls have been excluded from historical efforts to advance gender equality. For First Nations women, gender inequality intersects with the impact of racism and ongoing injustice. [National Working For Women Strategy]
The prejudice and systemic disadvantage that First Nations women face stem from the specific combination of gendered and racist assumptions. This is reflected in First Nations women experiencing alarming rates of violence, having unequal access to safe and culturally appropriate health care and education, being over-represented in the justice system and their children being over-represented in child protection and out-of-home-care, and facing socio-economic disparities.
To contextualise the 'alarming rates of violence' experienced by First Nations women, hospitalisations from intimate partner violence for Aboriginal women is 38 times as high as for non-Aboriginal women and death from assault is 10 times higher.
The primary driver of gender inequity for First Nations' women is racism.
The prejudice and systemic disadvantage that First Nations women face stem from the specific combination of gendered and racist assumptions.
4.Cultural Safety
The measurement of positive race relations is defined by Reconciliation Australia as when “all Australians understand and value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous cultures, rights, and experiences, which results in stronger relationships that are based on trust and respect and are free from racism”.
Institutional Integrity is the active support of reconciliation by the nation’s political, business, and community structures. Ensuring your workplace is inclusive, respectful, and free of racism is key to our nation's reconciliation aspirations and values.
To ensure the success of any economic development strategy or initiative, the business must commit to engaging leadership and the whole workforce via tailored cultural learning opportunities to increase understanding and appreciation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, histories, and achievements. This is fundamental to creating the right environment to increase recruitment, retention, and professional development.
It is important there is investment to create an enterprise-wide uplift in cultural safety - and this includes recognising that building cultural capability is a continual process, encompassing cultural awareness, cultural competence and cultural safety.
Building a culturally safe workplace for all employees starts with cultural competency training - to connect your people to 'the why'. Second, is good policies and practices to create a supportive environment for your workforce. Developing the skills to build awareness, competency, and cultural safety takes time and is part of a journey.
It is sequentially important that your people are connected to 'the why' in advance of implementing Special Measures, or your efforts could be counterintuitive. If the current mainstream perception that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are given unfair advantage is still alive in your company, the general workforce will further marginalise First Nations peoples within your workforce, whether they entered the business via a special measure or not, and you will struggle to recruit, promote or retain First Nations peoples, despite best efforts.
Authentically anchoring a strategy in cultural safety, requires employers to self-reflect and address internal and systemic gaps that perpetuate financial, economic and social exclusion of First Nations peoples. Often the default position for economic development strategies is to design approaches that are outward facing (Aboriginal people having a deficit that requires fixing), when in most instances, workforces require significant uplift in cultural competency to lay the foundation for a safe and inclusive pathway for First Nations' peoples to navigate, and the rest takes care of itself.
Starting your cultural safety journey with your Board and senior leaders is critical. Whilst the voice referendum showed us there are 6 million allies of First Nations peoples, if they are buried in your organisational structure - they won't be in a position of influence to lead transformative change.
That level of transformative change must be championed by the company's leaders, and the executive leaders and Board must demonstrate an aligned and cohesive commitment to reconciliation and an authentic connection to 'the why' before your people will follow.
If you are interested in Ninti Kata supporting your company to explore best practice economic reconciliation strategies, please contact Erin Woolford here
Comentarios