Exploring the economic dimension of reconciliation

In Australia, the Indigenous Economy is often referred to as a “sleeping giant.”

According to procurement organisation Supply Nation, Indigenous businesses already generate AUD8.8 billion in revenue annually, mostly from procurement.

Indigenous procurement provisions – which have been implemented by both government and large private sector organisations – provide Indigenous business owners with an opportunity for economic independence.

However, there’s still a long way to go towards economic empowerment. While Indigenous people make up around 3 percent of the Australian population, they account for only 0.5 percent of our business community.

GHD is committed to Indigenous procurement as a key enabler of reconciliation with Supply Nation. We have recently surpassed the milestone of AUD1 million spend in Indigenous procurement for FY20/21 – a national target achieved by engaging with 58 Indigenous owned businesses.

Many Indigenous business owners also have the opportunity to pay it forward and hire other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In fact, these businesses are 100 times more likely to employ other Indigenous people. For every AUD1 of revenue, certified suppliers are estimated to generate AUD4.41 of social return.

The Indigenous economy in Canada is currently estimated at over CAD30 billion. Indigenous Peoples are highly entrepreneurial – the Indigenous population, which is growing at four times the rate of the non-Indigenous population, creates new businesses at about nine times the Canadian average. Indigenous business, financial and professional associations are developing rapidly and Indigenous Peoples are increasingly taking an equity stake in projects.

The economic empowerment of Indigenous Peoples is an essential dimension of reconciliation. The Government of Canada recognises the right of Indigenous Peoples to self-determination, “including the right to freely pursue their economic, political, social, and cultural development.” That requires among other things “a renewed fiscal relationship, developed in collaboration with Indigenous nations, that promotes a mutually supportive climate for economic partnership and resource development.”

Simply put, Indigenous Nations must have the means to govern and finance their development in accordance with their values and priorities, just like any other nation.

Economic reconciliation also makes very good business sense. Equitably sharing the benefits of development projects with Indigenous Peoples can go a long way to obtaining their free, prior and informed consent, which is required under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and key to attracting investments. Further, many developments occur in remote areas occupied principally by Indigenous Peoples who bring their local knowledge and experience as employees and suppliers.

While the procurement provisions are often in place, many clients don’t know where to start to find an Indigenous business or are not sure about taking on a new supplier.

The challenge is often changing the mindset, making it ok to try an Indigenous business and balance the value for money considerations with social return. There will be times when suppliers fail to deliver, and times when the purchasers fail to understand the value provided by Indigenous businesses. So it’s important to be transparent about the risks, provide honest feedback and enable purchasers and suppliers to grow and learn from mistakes.

It’s also key to engage with suppliers and help businesses or individuals increase their capabilities and confidence. An interactive approach to procurement focuses on assessing the willingness of Aboriginal businesses to engage in solution development rather than focusing on the final product. This can occur through capacity building programs that facilitate ongoing communication, as well as through interactions in small projects.

We have developed a comprehensive whitepaper ‘Sustainable procurement in the water sector, an untapped opportunity for Australia’, which aims at encouraging knowledge sharing and collaboration. It discusses a variety of factors to consider in Indigenous procurement strategies and their incorporation in business plans.

Ultimately, it comes down to building a relationship that’s based on honesty, one that genuinely provides opportunities for Indigenous professionals and builds capacity within the supplier’s business, instead of ticking the box or a one-off transactional approach. These long-term relationships with business owners also help you learn more about the diversity of Indigenous Peoples.

More and more industry sectors are contributing to economic reconciliation through employment of Indigenous people, procurement from Indigenous suppliers, and Indigenous equity and governance. The resources, construction, renewable energy and fishing industries are notable in this regard. There are also several others, such as the transportation, water, waste management and remediation industries.

One way in which GHD supports industry in economic reconciliation is by assisting it in its engagement with Indigenous communities. We work with Indigenous communities to co-design engagement processes for proposed works that might affect their rights, in order to account for Indigenous Knowledge, concerns and aspirations. Indigenous Knowledge, which is holistic and rich in teachings accumulated over several millennia, contributes to smarter, more sustainable development.

GHD also works with the Indigenous communities in accessing available funding for projects and in assisting in designing and managing them. Over the past five years, we have provided services to Indigenous communities across Canada on well over 70 projects in various sectors, such as energy, mining, water and wastewater, solid waste management, buildings, environmental assessment and remediation. In doing so, we take any opportunity to subcontract to Indigenous businesses; examples of goods and services procured from Indigenous businesses include earthworks, monitoring, Indigenous Knowledge studies, transportation, lodging and catering.

Another way in which GHD supports economic reconciliation in Canada is through a paid internship for Indigenous youths enrolled in post-secondary education in engineering and science.

Through such projects and corporate initiatives, GHD embraces the Calls to Action in the 2015 Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, one of which invokes the role of the corporate sector in ensuring that “…Aboriginal peoples have equitable access to jobs, training, and education opportunities in the corporate sector, and that Aboriginal communities gain long-term sustainable benefits from economic development projects.”

We recognise that achieving economic reconciliation will take time and that our own initiatives must continually develop and be properly supported and financed.

The Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business has said that “the future of Canada’s economy is Indigenous,” which is supported by the evolving landscape. The realisation that the economic empowerment of Indigenous Peoples improves the prosperity of all Canadians is rapidly gaining ground. By facilitating the economic self-determination of Indigenous Peoples, which involves among other things better access to capital and independent decision-making, we collectively reduce risk in economic development, optimize outcomes and advance on the path to reconciliation.