‘Indigenous Business Month collectively calls upon First Nations business owners and their non-Indigenous allies, to gather online and in community, to look at your actions today and how they will impact our tomorrow.’
This year’s theme is significant to Murawin, as the foundation of our consultancy business is to take action which impacts tomorrow. Murawin consultants Alexa Dietrich and Dr Rieko Fukushima Byrom share their reflections on what this year’s theme means to them in the context of their work.
“Our work at Murawin is directly linked with the 2022 Indigenous Business Month theme – we consistently encourage and challenge clients to take action and create positive impact, we also practice this ourselves. We strive toward actions to promote positive social impact,” said Alexa.
Murawin’s goal, as a consultancy business and social enterprise, is to create impact by breaking cycles of disadvantage and amplifying initiatives that contribute to improved futures for Indigenous Australians.
Murawin celebrate the power in which the platform of Indigenous Business has. Business can sit owners, their families and communities back in the driver’s seat of their own future. Research shows that “Supply Nation registered Indigenous businesses earn more than $1 billion per year with revenues growing by an average of 12.5 per cent annually.” The Indigenous Business Sector Strategy 2018-2028.
The Indigenous Business Sector Strategy also outlined the importance that women play in Indigenous Businesses “as business owners, operators, entrepreneurs, and leaders – (Indigenous women) are critical in contributing to economies at all levels and providing role models to future generations of entrepreneurs.”
Indigenous business practices have been established and adapted for many thousands of years; a crucial part of this system is the cultural underpinnings of the relationships in Indigenous business. Indigenous businesses have a strong values-based purpose with community and culture coming first, this is an interesting approach that is not visible within a contemporary business plan.
Indigenous Businesses contribute economically, socially, and culturally to our society. Nationwide, they play a significant part in sharing and acknowledging our ancient Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and keeps it alive today. Indigenous Businesses are crucial in Closing the Gap which is a major driver of our work creating impact and influencing the future of tomorrow.
Rieko, a Murawin consultant specialising in Indigenous Voice research and evaluation shared, “I believe if you don’t start taking the action that you would like to pursue, nothing will happen. However, if you do something now, that may lead you to the future you believe is right. At times it may look like slow progress, if you keep trying, keep taking action, there is always a chance to impact on cycles of disadvantaged and create change for tomorrow.”
This year we were pleased to host a table at the UNIQ You event in Brisbane celebrating both Indigenous Business Month and UN International Day of the Girl with our colleagues from AECOM’s First nation Participation Advisor, Luana Sanders. Through our Morning Sky Program, Murawin proudly sponsors a range of initiatives to increase the levels of Indigenous girls and women in industries that lead to exciting career pathways and employment opportunities.