Indigenous business getting more diverse

Companies wanting to engage with Aboriginal businesses have been urged to look past their unconscious bias and think more widely about the opportunities.

Wirra Hub general manager Shane Devitt said Aboriginal businesses were almost as diverse as the economy at large.

However, he has found that many well-meaning organisations seeking to build engagement look no further than commissioning Aboriginal art for their boardroom.

“Everything should be on the table,” he said.

“Not just your unconscious bias selection.”

Mr Devitt will be speaking next Tuesday at a Business in Action Forum, organised as part of National Reconciliation Week.

He brings extensive experience in the sector, including 18 months running the Wirra Hub, which is a federal government-backed spin-off from the Wirrpanda Foundation.

The Wirra Hub is working with about 150 Aboriginal businesses, providing support and advice in areas like marketing, business strategy and tendering.

Its clients cover a wide spectrum, from building trades and civil contracting to waste management, cleaning, consulting and software.

“Who would have thought there was an Aboriginal business that has developed a mine planning app,” Mr Devitt said.

“And who would have through we are working with an architect.”

Mr Devitt said the Wirra Hub had been aided by about 70 service providers that deliver a mix of pro bono and paid work.

Its goal was to connect the Aboriginal businesses with established companies and government agencies looking to boost their indigenous procurement.

Mr Devitt said companies and government agencies would assist Aboriginal businesses if they broke up big contracts into smaller packages.

They also needed to recognise that most Aboriginal businesses were cash poor.

“They need to find smarter ways to derisk so the businesses have enough working capital,” he said.

This could include faster payment of invoices, or sign-on payments, or mobilisation advances.

“If they are serious about it, they need to look at these things,” he said.

The Business in Action Forum is also supported by the Noongar Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Chief executive Tim Milsom said the chamber has grown to have 420 members and 14 corporate partners.

Like the Wirra Hub, its members cover a wide range of professions and trades.

Chamber president Gordon Cole said its activities were linked to the Noongar cultural philosophy of commerce and trade.

“The colonial process took it away,” he said.

“Its like we are reclaiming back our commerce and trade on country.

“We work from that philosophy.”

The Business Action Forum aligns with the 2021 National Reconciliation Week theme, ‘More than a word. Reconciliation takes action’.

Reconciliation WA co-chair Carol Innes said there was a greater awareness in the community of the impact that past histories have had on First Nations peoples, but that it was now time for people to commit to do more.

“Moving towards true Reconciliation in Western Australia takes more than awareness, and more than acknowledgement and understanding, it takes sustained action,” Ms Innes said.

* To read more about Indigenous business in WA, and the highly-varied support from big mining companies, read our special report in the next edition of Business News, out on Monday June 1.