Ending economic racism: bringing together the Indigenous and business communities

I applaud these strategies but I strongly believe there are better ways to maximise Indigenous participation in commercial viability ventures.

I argue for a shift from welfare-type investments to focussing on the development of a critical mass of Indigenous people with the skills, knowledge and confidence to make informed decision about investments, joint ventures and viable business projects.

I’m not an accountant. I have Year 11 high school. A group of us approached Hall Chadwick seeking a fair dinkum partner in Indigenous business. Somebody who would take us seriously and not start each sentence with ‘I think you should’. We were looking for somebody who would take the time necessary to show the Indigenous people the processes of an audit, joint venture negotiation, venture capital etc. I don’t want to become an accountant but I do want to know what they do and a broad sense of how they do it.

I was hired to establish Hall Chadwick Indigenous Services, the professional consulting and service division of the Hall Chadwick group of companies.

Indigenous Services is about offering opportunities for Indigenous people to advance a career in corporate Australia. Providing mentoring and skills development opportunities without diluting our cultural integrity. HCIS offers the opportunity for Indigenous people to become auditors, accountants and business advisors. To achieve recognition at the cutting edge of business, which no one can take away from you.

Indigenous Services is about providing an Indigenous team of professionals for Indigenous and non-Indigenous clients. A team of Indigenous professionals is able to intuitively understand the client’s needs and the external factors which exert various influences on the way we operate. We also inspire confidence and pride because the Uncles and Aunties see black faces provide best-practice business services.

A part of what I do is getting corporate Australia to accept an event-based culture as a viable partner in a time-based world. I also want to prove to the business world that Indigenous people can succeed in business.

The business world simply doesn't understand Indigenous people, protocols or politics nor do we understand them, apart from our own misconceptions of corporate Australia

When we approached Hall Chadwick, we originally pitched a joint-venture company called LEADIndigenous Limited. LEAD is an acronym for Leadership, Education, Assistance and Direction in Indigenous Business and is governed by a Board of five Indigenous people and two non-Indigenous experts.

We realised that it was a big ask of Business Australia to provide valuable business professionals in teaching and mentoring roles so LEADIndigenous Limited has secured funds to provide incubator programs and partnership programs. LEADIndigenous Limited is a not-for-profit company, which invests in people.

The Incubator works on the person as well as the concept. If the person isn’t ready for business, there is every likelihood that the business venture will fail.

A model of taking Indigenous people, step by step, through the conceptual, planning and operation of a viable and sustainable business. Training people for business success by applying Indigenous management methodologies to business practices. Ways and methods that we know and use in daily life, applied to business, give us a greater chance of success than theory-based training.