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Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) has launched the Office of the Indigenous Economy, described as the first dedicated effort since federation to measure and track the economic contribution of Australia's Indigenous-led economy.
The Sydney-based government body says the Office of the Indigenous Economy (OTIE) will work to develop a comprehensive measure of Indigenous GDP, building baseline data on the scale and trajectory of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business and corporation ecosystem.
The launch coincides with research from the University of Melbourne's Dilin Duwa Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership, which has quantified the ecosystem's significant and growing economic footprint.
The Snapshot Study 4.0, drawing on 2021-22 data, estimates Indigenous businesses and corporations employ about 135,733 people across Australia, including 46,718 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers.
Indigenous businesses are 12 times more likely to employ an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander worker than non-Indigenous firms, and pay Indigenous workers 7 per cent more on average, the research found.
The ecosystem employs about 20 per cent of the employed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander working-age population, with 65 per cent of those Indigenous jobs located in rural and remote areas.
“The Office of the Indigenous Economy will inform IBA’s activities and help shape a capital environment that is more open to investing in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities," says IBA CEO David Knights.
"The data provided will build two-way trust between First Nations communities, investors, academia and government.”
Dr Siddharth Shirodkar, who led the University of Melbourne's Snapshot Study series including the latest 4.0 release, takes on the chief economist role with deep expertise in Indigenous economic measurement.
IBA says the appointment reflects its commitment to building a rigorous, evidence-based understanding of the sector.
The Snapshot Study data reveals the significant impact of the Commonwealth's Indigenous Procurement Policy (IPP), introduced in 2015.
Annual contracts won by Indigenous businesses more than doubled from 3,589 to 8,197 following the policy's introduction, while the number of businesses winning contracts nearly trebled from 287 to 802.
Yet despite this growth, IPP revenue accounts for only 4 per cent of total ecosystem revenue, suggesting the Indigenous economy's commercial base extends well beyond government procurement channels.
IBA notes the Indigenous estate covers an estimated 70 per cent of Australia's landmass, with 20 per cent directly owned by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander interests, pointing to substantial untapped economic potential in land management, resources and related sectors.
“As a Jaru woman from the Kimberley and Central Australia, I have seen macroeconomic development around me and limited opportunities for people like me," says Vanessa Elliot, director of Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, who is on the inaugural advisory panel.
"This gap is partially due to the limited understanding about the First Nations economic footprint and barriers to market navigation, which I believe the newly formed Office of the Indigenous Economy will help us resolve.”
Fellow advisory panel member Professor Deen Sanders says the office represents a chance to reshape how the Indigenous economy is understood and supported.
“Australia, as a nation, will benefit from a truthful and richer story of Indigenous enterprise and the impact Indigenous people have on the wider economy," says Sanders.
"There is a great deal of work to do in getting there but on the other side waits a reimagined Indigenous economy and a new, shared national aspiration.”
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