Ngadjuri Elder Parry Agius was - and is - so passionate about fostering economic growth for First Nations businesses that he decided to establish an Indigenous business chamber.

The First Nations entrepreneur, who has been a strong advocate for socio-economic benefits for Aboriginal people for three decades, recently established the Aboriginal Business Industry Chamber South Australia with consultant Dana Shen and construction manager Ian Sandell.

Mr Agius was unequivocal about one of his goals being the empowerment of First Nations businesses.

"Bloody oath," he told the Indigenous Business Review / National Indigenous Times.

"If people are coming to the door and they want to be there, then you know that you've got people with beliefs and values.

"And you want to translate that into opportunities for Aboriginal businesses."

As an independent and autonomous organisation, the Aboriginal Business Industry Chamber South Australia (ABICSA) is hoping to attract thousands of members through various membership streams aimed at helping Aboriginal entrepreneurs access government procurement, industry networks and business development programs.

Mr Agius said fostering strong partnerships between Aboriginal businesses, government, and industry would empower First Nations communities and strengthen the Aboriginal business sector in South Australia.

"The aim for the chamber is for the businesses to understand that you're in a space where it's such a huge space, or it can be just as narrow as you want it to be," he said.

"And if you've got ambition, well, the chamber can bring the networks to you, and you just then use your communication skills to push yourself into that space and reinvent yourself in that space.

"So, when you look at those four streams, what does that say in the sense of what it does for an Aboriginal business and if they're part of an organisation, then the Aboriginal businesses have contacts within itself, within the chamber to start doing engagements, so you don't have to actually go out and run around and chase everybody and anybody."

Mr Agius, who consults to corporate and government clients through his Indigenous services company Linking Futures, said while the First Nations economy in South Australia has grown over the last 10 years, a lot more growth needed to happen.

He said one of the goals of the chamber was to support, promote and create pathways for Indigenous businesses that would create economic opportunities that drive sustainable growth for Aboriginal companies.

"If you want to just have an art business, and your art is in localised tourism, then that's great," he said.

"But if you're in the art business and you want a much bigger picture, then how do you build yourselves now? There are art galleries out there that are international, so how do you get yourself into the international scene?

"So, there's the spider web for a business, it can be as big as it wants, but it's based on what current experience and expertise you've got, and what's your attitude about growing your business is, so that it builds until you reach the point where you've reached your peak, and you're so successful that people are coming to you."

Mr Agius, who was the 2024 SA NAIDOC Male Elder of the Year, said the Federal government's recent tweaks to the Indigenous Procurement Policy (IPP) are heading in the right direction, but more could be done.

In February, the government announced the IPP would be strengthened to require that Indigenous businesses be 51 per cent or more First Nations-owned and controlled to access the IPP.

It also increased its target from 2.5 to three per cent of contracts from 1 July 2025, increasing to four per cent by 2030.

"We don't know what that IPP story may look like in five years or 10 years, because we don't know what the government's going to be like," he said.

"In that sense, we must build on what we've got right now and promote it to a point where Aboriginal businesses are growing as a result of the IPP.

"So, part of the chamber's role is to encourage Aboriginal businesses to look internally, as well as look externally, and match their capabilities and their capacity and their innovation with what's out there, because that's where the money is."