The Indigenous Economic Power Project

Economic empowerment is key to improved socio-economic outcomes for Indigenous Australians, and pivotal for self-determination.

About the Indigenous Economic Power Project

The Indigenous Economic Power Project (IEPP) aims to build a national Indigenous business and economic dataset to produce longitudinal Indigenous business statistics to inform the sector and its stakeholders. This project involves an annual process of data collection, cleaning, consolidation, integration, analysis and the production of annual snapshot studies and related reports.

To produce the studies we collaborate with data custodians to create impactful research that can help shape future data developments and research priorities for the sector.

Read the reports

Economic contribution

The Aboriginal and Corporation ecosystem shows a sizeable contribution to the Australian economy.

$16.096b

in revenue

$4.200b

in wages

116,795

people employed

13,693

unique alive and active businesses

*Figures based on data from financial year 2021-22 and as per Snapshot report 3.1. Figures are subject to change.

Employment

65%

of jobs were in rural and remote
areas, which provides opportunities
for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people to work while
living on Country.

1 in 3

employees in the ecosystem was
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
(46,718 out of 135,733 employees)*

1 in 5

employed Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islanders worked within the ecosystem*

*in 2021-22

*Figures based on data from financial year 2021-22 and as per Snapshot report 4.0. Figures are subject to change.

Employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women

48%

of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
women employed in
the Indigenous business and corporation ecosystem.

Compared to 44 per cent in the
non-Indigenous sector.

59%

the rate of full-time employment in the Indigenous business
ecosystem is much higher than in the
non-Indigenous sector.

(59 per cent to 43 per cent)

Paid 1.3 times more

in the Indigenous business and corporation ecosystem.

($27,697 compared to $21,416 in the
non-Indigenous sector)

*Figures based on data from financial year 2021-22 and as per Snapshot report 4.0. Figures are subject to change.

Main employers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

11,726

Health Care and Social Assistance

6,535

Administrative Services

4,429

Public Administration and Safety

4,271

Professional, Scientific and
Technical Services

3,900

Construction

*Figures based on data from financial year 2021-22 and as per Snapshot report 4.0. Figures are subject to change.

Procurement

The introduction of the Indigenous Procurement Policy in 2015 has opened-up new opportunities for the ecosystem to access Commonwealth contracts.

The number of contracts won each year more than doubled:

3,589

per year for financial years ending
2008 - 15

8,197

per year for financial years ending
2016 - 19

The number of Indigenous business and corporations
winning contracts each year almost trebled:

287

per year for financial years ending
2008 - 15

802

per year for financial years ending
2016 - 19

Revenue from IPP is only a fraction of the ecosystem’s total revenue: 4 per cent

The Cryogenics Group focuses on making an impact in its communities to increase economic self-determination and ensure individuals are in control of their future.

The Cryogenics Group features multiple partnerships that seek to increase social impact, including partnering with Waalitj Hub to procure services from Indigenous people seeking to grow their own businesses.

Snapshot 1.1

Snapshot 1.1 was our starting point and by no means definitive. Covering four Indigenous business registers, it was the first study of its kind to link Indigenous businesses into the ABS’s Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment (BLADE) and provided a starting point for future Snapshot work.

Snapshot 2.0

We found that the Indigenous businesses on these registries are well established and secure. Compared to their peers they are middle-performing, reinforcing a key finding from our 2021 Snapshot that those businesses on lists designed to promote procurement opportunities are strong midsized businesses capable of meeting government contract requirements and potentially higher procurement targets.

Snapshot 3.1

Snapshot 3.1 analyses the contribution of the Indigenous ecosystem to the Australian economy, with 13,693 active and alive (trading) businesses and corporations in 2022, generating $16.1 billion in revenue, employing 116,795 people, and paying $4.2 billion in wages. In terms of generated revenue, the ecosystem is around the same size as the Australian timber industry.

Snapshot 4.0

The study explores (1) employment figures in the Indigenous business ecosystem and (2) Indigenous procurement data which explores the impact of the Indigenous Procurement Policy.

Snapshot 4.0 highlights

Southern Cultural Immersion is a 100% Aboriginal-owned business that offers services including cultural training, community engagement, art and cultural workshops, and cultural tours.

Southern Cultural Immersion donates a percentage of its profits to the Kaurna Meyunna Trust, supporting the Kaurna People.

Call to data custodians

We are continuously looking to work with more data custodians.

We aim to continue building a more comprehensive picture of the contribution of Indigenous-led businesses and organisations by ensuring the data represents all sectors. The more organisations that are included, the clearer and more accurate the picture will become.

We welcome expressions of interests from organisations that:

Maintain a registry, membership list, or database of Indigenous-owned or Indigenous-led entities
Have established relationships with Indigenous communities or regional networks
Support ethical data governance and Indigenous data sovereignty principles
Are interested in collaborative partnerships, data-sharing frameworks, and/or ecosystem development initiatives

Examples may include:

Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations
Art centres in regional or remote areas
Chambers of commerce
Peak bodies and representative organisations
List of Indigenous businesses

Should you agree to participate we would ask you to confidentially share the Indigenous business data in your registry. This would include the business names, and if possible, Indigenous certification, industry/sector and dates of registration/de-registration.

How does participating benefit your organisation?

This project seeks to make a significant contribution to understanding the impact and influence of Indigenous businesses in the Australian economy. Research analysis of Australian businesses has been limited by the kind of data available. Therefore, your organisation will be contributing to the creation of new knowledge.

Statistics and data from the reports can be used for your own purposes with no cost. As a collaborator in this research project, you would be able to inform and shape the yearly Snapshot reports in terms of what information would be useful to publish. We can provide data back to you in a way that can be useful for your organisation’s reports or your pitches for funding. For each of the reports, we can provide you information on how your piece of the data compares to the national dataset. If you are providing services, we can provide data back to you to help you evaluate your program’s effectiveness.

Please complete the contact form below or email Dilin-duwa@unimelb.edu.au to discuss this opportunity.

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