A panel at the recent Property Congress said Indigenous procurement is about giving opportunity to Indigenous businesses and shared tips on what to do as you think about taking the next step.
Joe Fatnowna Indigenous Engagement Manager – Victoria Stockland said while in the long-term Indigenous engagement is a legacy maker, procurement is about giving entrepreneurs an opportunity.
“It’s about giving opportunity to those entrepreneurs that have made the challenge to go out and make an Indigenous business.
“But it’s really the right thing to do.
“There are Indigenous businesses out there that can actually do the jobs, give them the opportunity, once you’ve given the opportunity and they’ve achieved – advocate.”
Suzanne Grech Head of Supplier Services Supply Nation said we are only just starting to see the first-generation businesses for the Indigenous business sector.
“People say, ‘why would I want to have indigenous procurement as part of my strategy or my supply chain’, the reason is because there’s an unfair playing field and we all have a role as Australians to be able to make that equal and equitable for each and every one of us.”
From 2009 to 2023, Supply Nation facilitated more than $14.7 billion in procurement spend between our members and suppliers (verified Indigenous businesses).
The number of suppliers grew from 2009 to 2024 at 41 per cent per annum while the numbers of members grew at 25 per cent per annum.
The Indigenous Business Direct database now lists over 5,000 verified Indigenous businesses, and in 2023 procurement spend from members (corporate, government, non-profit organisations) totalled $4.1 billion.
Ms Grech said there are three good steps in increasing your understanding of Indigenous procurement.
“Have a look at a Reconciliation Action Plan. See how you get involved in it. The reason why I say that as a first option is because it gives you a good idea and understanding of what the actual base level looks like.
“Secondly… get an Indigenous engagement policy, and get the senior level, the leadership levels, to sign off often it and advocate for you.”
“The third one is a strategy. Be advocates. Really try to think outside of the box when you’re developing what it looks like for you.”
Mr Fatnowna said Stockland has just developed its Indigenous procurement policy.
“I think the biggest ask is to go out into the actual Indigenous community and find out what the need is. We can put all the policies in place, but if we don’t know what the community wants, we’re not going to strategize it correctly.
“We go out and we meet the elders, we meet them at their levels, and we talk to them about what their aspirations are for the next year, next five years, so we can work towards those goals.”
Ms Grech said when Supply Nation, which manages Australia’s largest national directory of verified Indigenous businesses, started 15 years ago they had five founding suppliers.
“This was 15 years ago. I’m not talking about 50 or 100 years ago. So the space is quite new.
“You’ve got all these entrepreneurs and people learning how to do business.
“The best way for people to learn how to do business right is to be involved with organisations that have been around for a very long time, to share knowledge, skills so that we can help that sector prosper and grow.”
Ms Grech said the return on investment from Indigenous procurement can be extremely broad.
“I think some of the stories that I’ve seen out of business owners over the last couple of years is that people of my generation are now able to send their kids to private schools which wasn’t something that was a normal thing that we had access to.”
Mr Fatnowna used the example of an Indigenous traffic management company that hired priority job seekers.
“They were really good because they were Indigenous owned, but they also had 80 per cent retention.
“They were encouraged to work in the business, but after 12 months, they were giving an incentive or part ownership of the business.
“Now the percentage wise wasn’t big, but it was still enough to encourage them to return up work, come to work the next day, set some long-term goals for a change, not just short term.”