The Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs held an open hearing into improving the economic prosperity for First Nations Australians in Naarm on Friday.
It comes after the release of the Murru Waaruu economic outcomes report, which called for a critical shift in public policy to effectively support the economic empowerment of Indigenous Australians.
Terms of reference for the Committee include looking at opportunities for, and barriers to training, employment and business development; impediments to building the economic and social infrastructure required to support economic prosperity in the long term; and options to unlock capital and leverage intellectual property, the Indigenous Estate and First Nations skills to elevate First Nations people as economic partners.
The open forum in Naarm will discuss latest research from the Dilin Duwa – Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership, and the University of Melbourne, about the significant contribution Indigenous businesses make to the national economy, as well as job creation in local communities.
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Chair of the Committee, Mutthi Mutthi and Wamba Wamba woman Senator Jana Stewart, said: "Blak-owned organisations in Victoria are at the cutting edge of creating economic prosperity in their communities."
"It is critical that we examine their knowledge and insights about the pathway to economic independence and long-term wealth creation," she said.
The research from Dilin Duwa, Woi Wurrung for "Everlasting Flow," found the "Indigenous ecosystem" makes an important contribution to the Australian economy.
It saw 13,693 active and alive (trading) businesses and corporations in 2022, which generated $16.1 billion in revenue, employing 116,795 people, and paying $4.2 billion in wages.
The hearing will see appearances from a wide range of Indigenous organisations at the forefront of business enterprise in Victoria, who will discuss the barriers, and the opportunities, for economic prosperity for First Nations people.
These include the Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations (FVTOC), the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria, Clothing the Gap, and the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation.
The 92 submissions cover a wide range of focus points on the ambitions of First Nations groups to better achieve prosperity, ranging from opportunities offered by Treaty to renewable energy projects that can boost the First Nations workforce and unlock economic potential.
In their submission, Naarm-based Indigenous fashion label Clothing the Gap said for Millenia, First Nations people built "sophisticated economic systems, labour markets, production processes, and trade relationships to maintain the lore, culture, health and wellbeing of our communities".
Despite a form of "economic apartheid" for Indigenous people in the colonial economy, they submitted in the last few years, "there has been an increased focus on achieving economic self-determination for our peoples through entrepreneurial approaches and innovation".
"Our nation's goal should be to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are the beneficiaries of our peoples' labour, innovation, and enterprise," Clothing the Gap said.
The FVTOC submission said they supported the progress of "agreement-making and participation in decision-making" to help enhance the authority of Traditional Owner Corporations to help make decisions on behalf of their communities.
It said Self-determination was an inherent right, held communally by a group of people to, at a minimum, have and maintain a "'small-n' national identity within a broader 'National' governance system".
"The Federation is of the view that a prioritisation of the First Nations economy has the potential to not only fast track the addressing of issues of individual disadvantage but, at the same time, to make significant progress in the journey to self-determination," the submission said.
The First Peoples' Assembly, the democratically elected 'voice' for First Nations people in Victoria, said economic self-determination is a part of the journey to Treaty.
The Assembly argues a 'whole of system' approach to economic prosperity is required to achieve self-determination.
"Lessons from other jurisdictions demonstrate that better economic outcomes are achieved for everyone when First Peoples have greater control and decision-making power over their financial resources," the Assembly submitted, arguing economic injustices that continue to be experienced by First Peoples are "inextricably linked" to past colonial injustices.
The Committee will host another open hearing in Canberra on Tuesday July 23 at Parliament House.
More information on the inquiry can be found online.