Aboriginal Investment NT chief executive Nigel Browne says the organisation's goal is to boost equity in Indigenous communities across the Territory for long-term benefits.
In addition to grants for business start-ups and growth, and smaller-scale one-off community projects, Aboriginal Investment NT offers Community Impact and Innovation Grants (CI&I) ranging from $300,000 to $1 million for medium-size Aboriginal community-led projects.
Successful applicants and their projects range from mobile health clinics addressing gaps in remote areas to a blacklip oysters farm on Groote Eylandt - bringing employment opportunities, and film and audio digital libraries for the use of future generations in north-east Arnhem Land, Mr Browne told National Indigenous Times.
Submissions for round two of AINT's CI&I grants are now open, closing April 30.
In 2025, $11.1 million was invested into 14 Aboriginal communities through the grant scheme. The would-be total value of all submissions made to the "highly competitive" approval process, if AINT has a "bottomless pit" of money at their disposal, was around the $34 million mark, Mr Browne said.
"There were obviously a lot of initiatives out there that community is looking to have help with. Hopefully those communities have come back for this new round," he said.
By design, supported projects would be: initiatives that create positive, lasting change for Aboriginal people and communities across the Northern Territory - Impact; and projects that trial new ideas or new ways of doing things that benefit Aboriginal people and communities - Innovation.
That covers both a social lens and economic lens, Mr Browne said.
Aboriginal Investment NT also highlighted a simplified application process, with shorter forms, extended to three months to support accessibility.
"Our goal over time is to try and reintroduce equity into Aboriginal communities. We're not trying to be tricky about it," Mr Brown explained.
"For so long, resources opportunity have been sucked out of these communities. And to this day, still are. A lot of people get paid to go into these communities and do a job or build something, and then they leave.
"What we're trying to do is to, you know, help these communities build things in their communities that will benefit them long term.
At the time of the the group's 2024 shift and re-brand chair Barbara Shaw said it represented a "historic transition of control from Canberran decision-makers to us, Aboriginal Territorians".
The organisation also launched with a five-year strategy.
In the previous 12 months, Aboriginal Investment NT's staff has grown from 20 to over 40 people. Each role was earmarked in that strategy, Mr Browne stated.
So far, the body is half-way through allocating its $500 million Future Fund.
For its business grants, while officially opened for its third round of applications, Aboriginal Investment NT has removed deadlines creating what is in practice a rolling opportunity, Mr Browne added.
