Western Australia's Regional Development Minister, Don Punch, officially launched the first specialist support program to grow new and existing Aboriginal-led bushfood businesses in WA on Tuesday.
The first of its kind, the Aboriginal Bushfood Business Base is now operating from the Food Innovation Precinct Western Australia (FIPWA) at Nambeelup in the Peel region, on Noongar Country in WA's south west.
The WA and federal governments have co-invested to establish the Aboriginal Bushfood Business Support Program, through the Future Drought Fund for Farm Business Resilience.
The state government said the Aboriginal Bushfood Business Base provides a "one-stop shop" with space to conduct workshops, client meetings and events to showcase Aboriginal bushfood businesses to the wider food and beverage industry.
It is located adjacent to the Sustainable Innovative Food Technologies Centre, which is intended to facilitate access to expert advice and specialist equipment to develop and trial new bushfood product lines.
Available services will include a combination of State-wide bushfood business workshops, individual client support, industry forums and connection events.
Training and capacity building workshops will be co-designed with business and industry expertise, supported by delivery partners Outback Academy Australia and the WA Indigenous Tourism Operators Council.
WA's Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is delivering targeted programs in partnership with Aboriginal organisations bringing international expertise as part of the program.
"I was delighted to tour the new Aboriginal Bushfood Business Base today and see first-hand the potential of this unique initiative across regional Western Australia," Mr Punch said.
"This program addresses the demand for business support specific to Aboriginal businesses, which builds on their capacity to increase ownership in the bushfood industry."
WA Agriculture and Food Minister Jackie Jarvis said the state government was pleased to support the initiative to "drive the growth of bushfood businesses" across WA.
"This is a wonderful example of cross-government collaboration with Aboriginal-led organisations to ensure the sustainability of this growing industry," she said.
