Economic independence through employment offers the opportunity of owning a property and building one's own wealth for the next generation. This was clearly articulated by Mr Ernest Brimm who proudly described the achievements of Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park as representing:

... the new spirit of freedom that is hopefully growing in the Aboriginal community at large - freedom from dependence on government handouts; freedom from a century of oppression; freedom from the cycle of poverty. We are proud of what we have accomplished.¹

Opportunities

... opportunities matter. If there are no opportunities, there will be no progress for our people. I am not talking about employment opportunities. That should be a given. I am talking about business opportunities.²

Affirmative action

Mr Daniel Tucker of Carey Mining Pty Ltd, strongly believes that the best strategy to increase Aboriginal employment is to assist Aboriginal companies.⁵ Given opportunities, Aboriginal people would get involved in businesses.⁶ Mr John Corboy, a successful businessman, described the situation as:

Personally, I am not enormously into reconciliation; I am enormously into affirmative action. I think, beyond any doubt, there is an undeniable case that the Aboriginal members of our community do need to have the playing field levelled.⁷

Mr Tucker suggested affirmative action led by Government and believes that industry will follow.⁸ Affirmative action should be at three levels: the corporation, the subcontractors and employees. Carey Mining added that:

If people are letting those contracts, they could stipulate that whoever wins the contract must look at engaging Aboriginal subcontractors as part of the process.⁹

Regulating Indigenous employment opportunities in remote locations as part of mining license conditions was suggested by the Bloodwood Tree Association Inc. The example was given of Erkati Diamond Mine in Northern Canada which has over 30 per cent Indigenous employment.¹⁰

Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association also suggested the inclusion of criteria for Indigenous organisations to employ and train Indigenous people and collaborate with organisations which have experience in the provision of training services.¹¹

Affirmative action could take a number of forms, including a percentage of contracts being set aside for Aboriginal people to participate in. If work is to be sub-contracted, the successful tenderer could be required to engage Aboriginal sub-contractors.¹² Another option is that the company performing the work could engage Aboriginal employees reflective of the percentage of Indigenous population in the area.

One way of overcoming this inflexibility is to incorporate opportunities for Indigenous businesses in tendering processes. It was suggested that:

The Federal Government develop contract procurement and construction guidelines that promote and encourage Aboriginal contractors in the private sector for Government contracts.¹³

The NSW Government would like to see the Federal Government require agencies to include minimum targets in their Equal Employment Opportunity Management Plan and report annually.¹⁶ The New South Wales Government suggested:

... all Government agencies establish minimum Aboriginal employment targets that reflect the Aboriginal population, that is 2% or greater. Agencies providing a direct service to Aboriginal people should be encouraged to employ staff numbers that more accurately reflect the percentage of their Aboriginal client base.¹⁷

Indigenous employment targets

The percentages of Indigenous employees in some mining operations are also impressive, for example:

• Comalco, Weipa, 17.5 per cent of the workforce with a target of 35 per cent by 2010;
• Comalco, Gladstone, 6.5 per cent of the workforce;
• Pilbara Iron, 3.8 per cent of the workforce with a target of 15 per cent;
• Argyle Diamonds, 23 per cent of the workforce were local Indigenous people in May 2005³¹ with plans to increase this to 40 per cent by 2010;³²
• BHP Billiton Iron Ore have an Indigenous Employment Strategy with a 12 per cent Indigenous employment target for the company and contractors by 2010;³³ and
• Groote Island Mining Company has approximately 20 per cent of its permanent workforce from Indigenous descent.³⁴
• The National Tertiary Education Union also believes that the inclusion of employment targets has ensured that universities address their current employment practices and conditions.³⁵ This includes increasing Indigenous employment levels and retention rates and ensuring culturally appropriate conditions of employment.³⁶

Mr Daniel Tucker made the point that there are already government funding programs but these cannot be used without opportunities:

If the opportunities are there to match those programs, you will find more people accessing programs, taking up opportunities, getting involved with business, and getting involved in the real economy. Employment and training will then follow, and everything else will follow-education will follow and the standard of living of Aboriginal people will start lifting. So it all comes back to opportunities.³⁸

The Tangentyere Council commented that:

In respect of contract preference, the inclusion of Indigenous employment requirements in government and non-government contracts are an important step in generating employment opportunities, but this is only effective where such contract provisions are enforceable. From the lessons drawn from our experiences we propose comprehensive employment gen`eration through an import substitution model such as the successful central remote model for housing construction. This needs to be implemented across all areas of service provision ...³⁹

Regional economic opportunities

Indigenous Business Australia is undertaking some regional economic intelligence pilots to identify business opportunities in the Kimberley and Townsville areas.⁴⁹ A microfinance pilot being conducted by IBA has been successful but depends on a hands-on approach which is costly.⁵⁰ The New South Wales Government provides free assessment and advice on growth opportunities and the Badyari Ngalaya supports partnerships between Aboriginal enterprises and Australian business leaders.⁵¹

We are actually getting inundated with requests from state and territory governments to talk to the economic agencies. Traditionally, we have met some in the past, but the doors have opened up a lot more now. I am not sure whether that is a reflection of the fact that we have access to more capital, but I think they genuinely see opportunities within their states and territories.⁵²

Lessons for the future

Mr Willie Gordon, who developed Guurbi Tours, relates the story of his own initiation into the entrepreneurial world:

I couldn't start my business because I didn't know how to. The only thing that I knew was how to be involved in a workshop and planning and making strategies. Apart from lack of knowledge, there were other blockages: lack of support, lack of funds, and the viability question. And fear was stopping me. Business is about making decisions and taking responsibility, but in Hope Vale decisions were always made by somebody else.⁶³

Mr Michael Winer believes that building strong Indigenous institutions has been one of the great success factors in Cape York and it works with health, education, business development or employment:

They face north into their people and that turns a situation of having hundreds of field officers running around and endless meetings and things into a situation where it is the Indigenous organisations that take the responsibility for sorting out the political, cultural and law issues. That is where everyone, particularly government, gets tangled up.⁶⁴

Indigenous Enterprise Partnerships (IEP) works on business, economic and land management issues and believes in building the capacity of Indigenous organisations and institutions to provide services to Indigenous people.⁶⁵ IEP's platform of engagement involves:

... putting high-level expertise behind Indigenous ideas and programs, whether that be in employment, economic development or business development, and quite often into the social programs as well, because we find that one cannot operate without the other. You need a strong health program, a strong youth and child program, a strong leadership program and strong family programs if you are to get strong employment and economic development outcomes.⁶⁶

While the Committee acknowledges the importance and success of initiatives such as the National CDEP and IEC Achievement Awards, Jobs Careers Future Awards and Corporate Leaders for Indigenous Employment Awards, the Committee believes that formal recognition of the achievements by the Parliament is appropriate to reflect the significance of the employment and entrepreneurial outcomes which Indigenous individuals and communities have achieved.

Good business

The Australian and New Zealand Bank, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank all have Indigenous employment initiatives.⁷⁰

The key aim of the National's initiative is to develop and implement long term systemic and cultural change to create employment pathways and maximise the employment prospects of Indigenous Australians within the organisation.⁷¹

It is good business to employ Indigenous people:

... because people want to bank where their own people are. I actually took my business from one bank ... to the ANZ because of Bruce's commitment to our people. We shop at Woolworths because of their commitment to our people. We have money. Whether it is the welfare dollar or whatever, we have wealth with our money. We have to buy food.⁷²

The Indigenous Employment Strategy Framework for Industry provides a commitment by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to increase employment for Indigenous people in the private sector. The development of the strategy has resulted in many association members exploring ways to address current skills shortages through the employment of Indigenous people.⁷³

... increased economic independence through partnerships with industry, especially in rural and remote communities, lies in indigenous communities being able to effectively negotiate with the minerals and resources sectors as well as being able to access venture seed capital and contractual commitments. Addressing these issues at the national level would greatly assist the self-determination of many indigenous communities.⁷⁴

Entrepreneurship and sustainable business

On the importance of entrepreneurship and small business to Indigenous progress, Dr Foley added that:

It enables a certain part of Aboriginal Australia to move forward and be in control of what they are doing. They become a part of a wider society. They still maintain their Indigenousness. They do not lose their Aboriginality-that is for sure. They can still control it, but it is far easier to control your cultural beliefs when you have control of your financial resources. When you do not have control of your financial resources, you do not really have control of your life.⁸³

The Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research listed the factors common to successful Indigenous business as:

1. Positivity: a positive attitude that is the driving force in the pursuit of business success;
2. Image: an aim to project a positive image of their business which includes the use of a non-Indigenous accountant to indicate legitimacy (accountability) in their business counteracting negative social stereotypes against Indigenous business people;
3. Education and Industry experience: there is a strong relationship between education, industry knowledge-experience and business success;
4. Networking: a strong development of networking channels of business contacts;
5. Family: a common shared positive relationship between family and business, and
6. Discrimination: a common level of public and institutional discrimination that affects the day-to-day activity of the business.⁸⁴

Dr Foley has identified an attitude of positivity as being common amongst successful Indigenous entrepreneurs which he described as 'possibly the most outstanding personal attribute':

Positivity is this attitude that you cannot fail and that you will achieve. Those positive people are prepared to put things on the line, to make calculated judgments and to go past the status quo of the normal circle of comfort. That is so with most entrepreneurs but more so in this case because it actually bypasses some cultural influences as well. I think the most outstanding thing is that drive to succeed.⁸⁵

'We must succeed; there is no alternative.' The Indigenous businesspeople saw they could not fail. That was very important to them. They also felt it gave them control of their lives-they finally had choices in their life; they were no longer the employee, they were the employer.⁸⁶

Small business opportunities

Profit is not a bad word-it has been in Aboriginal communities for many years in regards to enterprises. We have to sell that as a good word. We have to also make the Indigenous people in those communities shareholders. I deliberately use the word 'shareholders' rather than being 'members' of some of these enterprises, because in the sense of shareholders you actually get a benefit. If that enterprise is working, you get a benefit from it; if it is not working, then you get the failings of that enterprise. This creates a cultural shift in people's minds in that whether it does or does not work, it reflects back on themselves. We need to have that instilled in people to get things moving along.⁹⁰

Tourism potential

Indigenous art and craft

In some communities, particularly in regional or remote localities, art production stands as the only source of externally generated income. The income generation capacity of artists has significant flow on benefits to individuals, the artists' extended family and their community as it results in increased purchasing power, increased self esteem, the creation of positive community profiles and enhanced cultural transmission.¹⁰⁵

Mr Mikael Smith gave the example of TAFE graduates in arts and craft even though this usually does not pay well and saw:

... the biggest growth area in Aboriginal employment in small business and in people undertaking roles where they are not held back by the constraints of governments and big corporate organisations and are free to manufacture, produce and do whatever they want to. I think there can be a level of support provided by the Commonwealth and state governments and even local governments to assist in that process ... there can be opportunities in local government to facilitate some outcomes through corporate gifts, art collections and all sorts of things.¹⁰⁶

Culture and language programs contribute to the operational funding of some community centres and this provides employment opportunities for Indigenous people in a range of roles including:

... language experts, teachers, sound recordists, archivists, interpreters, heritage and cultural officers, administrators and office staff. Through language and cultural centres, Indigenous people are afforded recognition of their cultural knowledge and gain proficiency in the use of information and communications technology, administration, teaching, governance and management. Employment in such centres provides a strong community focus for Indigenous employees, and can be instrumental in building community cohesion and self-respect.¹¹³

Business development

Historically there has been a high failure rate in business development so support is now being provided.¹¹⁶ Mrs Cheryle Taylor, Manguri Employment Services, described the challenge in moving from a grant funded organisation to a business model.¹¹⁷

Indigenous people need to learn about business. Most of us want to do it. Most of us have the will and the desire to do it. But we have never operated out of a business model. As much as we want to do it, failure becomes almost inevitable if you really do not know that well what you are going into. Education around that sort of thing is really important. That whole thing about pushing enterprise is critical.¹¹⁸

The Queensland Government suggested the development of alliances and partnerships with industry and the banking and financial sectors to support Indigenous small business development.¹¹⁹ Entrepreneurial support was seen by the South Australian Government as one of the areas where it is difficult to 'get a coalition effort' and there is a need to bring together state and federal support and assistance efforts.¹²⁰ In New South Wales enterprise development is:

... a key priority for Aboriginal people and New South Wales is taking a holistic partnership based approach with all three tiers of government, the private sector and Aboriginal organisations.¹²¹

Rio Tinto Ltd referred to the Corporate Leaders Program and questioned whether small businesses should not get the same level of support to engage an Aboriginal person for the first time.¹²⁸ The Committee believes that small business also has an important role to play in improving indigenous employment outcomes in the future.

Business mentoring

This 'fire in the belly', or entrepreneurial spirit, can be developed and enhanced by a mentor, who provides advice and support to the entrepreneur in a culturally appropriate way.¹²⁹ Mr Willie Gordon described the role played by his friend Judy Bennett in the development of his business:

... Judy focussed on me. She believed in me, and encouraged my ideas. She gave me direction, showing me how to move forward to achieve my goals, and she got involved, actually doing the job with me step by step. And she gave me an energy. If you want sustainability you need energy from somewhere and somebody. In business you need to be inspired.

But Judy didn't solve my problems for me. This is really important, as I am the only one that can decide what I should or will do. Instead, she gave me options and information, and acted as a sounding-board whilst I worked out the best solution for me. This empowered me to make my own decisions based on our cultural values.¹³⁰

The nature of the business

Like any business, an Indigenous enterprise must have certain qualities in order to succeed: it must have good product, excellent staff, and have a sound economic basis. Narana Creations described a number of factors as contributing to the success of its enterprise, including creative planning, excellent staff, unique cultural products, and professional attention to customer service and detail.¹³⁵ A number of witnesses pointed to the importance of supporting only those Indigenous business ventures that are economically viable.¹³⁶

The Arnhemland Progress Association is a financially independent Indigenous organisation that derives its income from the successful operation of 13 community retail stores. All staff, with the exception of the management team, are Indigenous. The organisation credits its success to a number of factors, including:

• The Chair and Board of Directors are Indigenous people from member communities, so members of the community see the organisation as being run by their own people;
• Store management are specifically employed to work with and train Aboriginal staff, and must be committed to that goal; and
• The organisation is culturally sensitive and understands the importance of family and cultural obligations.¹³⁷

Access to capital

A recurring theme that emerged from evidence presented to the Committee was the need for access to capital in order for Indigenous businesses to succeed. There is a lack of trust between financial organisations and Indigenous people and communities and the lack of capital is an issue for Indigenous people wishing to establish a business.¹⁴⁰ This can be an insurmountable hurdle for many.

It is almost impossible for Indigenous people to gain finance and some resort to using credit cards as their initial capital.¹⁴¹ You need to have 'bricks and mortar' to get finance.¹⁴² A relatively low level of home ownership among Indigenous Australians is a significant impediment to providing equity for business finance.¹⁴³

Problems faced by Indigenous women in accessing finance have been particularly acute. Lack of access to adequate funding appears to be a significant factor that affects the ability of Indigenous women in rural areas to operate businesses.¹⁴⁴

Successful Indigenous businesses have generally had to find innovative ways to overcome a lack of access to capital.¹⁴⁵ Some enterprises have been able to source financial support from alternative sources. For example, the Tangentyere Job Shop, a not-for-profit enterprise that operates a Job Network service, receives financial support from Tangentyere Council.¹⁴⁶ Other Aboriginal businesses have sourced funding from mining royalties and the sale of property.¹⁴⁷

The Northern Land Council explained that the lack of capital made enterprise development very difficult:

It means we must either rely on others to generate the demand for our labour or use our position as land owners to leverage that demand, and that is essentially what we do.¹⁴⁸

Access to land is also an important criterion for success in some Indigenous enterprises. The Nyirrangu Muay Wurrga'ada Association pointed to the need for autonomous family ownership and control of land as a base for building enterprise opportunities to allow families to break away from welfare dependency.¹⁴⁹ Ms Eileen Deemal-Hall also stressed the importance of having a mortgageable asset before approaching banks for finance to enable an enterprise to be established.¹⁵⁰ Mr Warren Mundine believes that:

A more radical approach is needed whereby we move away from communal land ownership and non-profit community based businesses and take up home ownership, economic land development and private, profit making businesses.¹⁵¹

Microcredit

Unlike a business development or lending product, where it is all based on a commercially viable assessment, microfinance is about holding people's hands and working through all the issues with them and getting to a point of trust before you lend them money. The loans are very small, but they can gradually increase from thereon. Hopefully they can move into mainstream finance over a period of time.¹⁶¹

The First Australians for Business program has had some success but is not available in all regions and local mentors and training are needed for ongoing success.¹⁶² Rio Tinto has other strategies including direct job placement, joint venture operations and internal business incubators.¹⁶³

IBA and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations have a number of initiatives for helping to provide Indigenous entrepreneurs with access to start-up capital as well as market intelligence, skill development services (mentoring and marketing advice) and alternative funding products.¹⁶⁶ Although these programs appear to have had some success, there is a need to make these programs more accessible, and for government to seek out Indigenous entrepreneurs who may benefit from small business loans or the provision of micro-finance. The Committee believes that IBA and DEWR should be encouraged to further seek out appropriate recipients of small business assistance and micro-finance.

Education and business skills

Dr Foley's findings include:

• when in business one must adapt to the mainstream business culture;
• there is a correlation between success and formal or technical education;
• networking skills are essential for success and this is linked to the connections made during the education process;
• the reinvestment of funds into the business for growth capital and human capital;
• co-cultural theory and ethnic theory may be relevant to population concentrations/geographic focus; and
• non-indigenous spouses may facilitate access to external capital, business finance, family capital, business human capital, higher education and business experience.¹⁶⁷

Indigenous people have their own ideas, motivation and passion, but they often need to be provided with the right information to bring their ideas to fruition.¹⁶⁸

In addition, cultural values and communal decision-making do not necessarily fit with commercial decision-making and management responsibilities necessary to support and sustain successful small business development.¹⁶⁹

Education is particularly important in providing entrepreneurs with business and people skills.¹⁷⁰ A study conducted by Dr Dennis Foley found that of the people involved in 50 successful Indigenous businesses, approximately 52 per cent had tertiary qualifications, 20 per cent had trade qualifications and 88 per cent had Year 12 qualifications.¹⁷¹ The need to improve educational opportunities and achievements for Indigenous people is dealt with more fully in Chapter 6. Dr Foley made the point in relation to education that:

This may not provide direct skills for business success however it would appear that it does provide exposure to life skills for business success and the skills necessary for the analysis or opportunity recognition.¹⁷²

In the case of Indigenous entrepreneurs, Dr Foley added that it is exciting that the second generation is receiving an education.¹⁷³ For children to receive an education, it is a case of educating the Indigenous parents and there must be an acceptance that they also have a responsibility.¹⁷⁴

The Committee is aware that there is still a lack of access to effective business training and mentoring programs, and long-term management and directorial education programs, available for many Indigenous people.¹⁸³ There is also evidence of a lack of whole-of-government coordination in the delivery of services to potential Indigenous entrepreneurs.¹⁸⁴

There is also a need for advice and education in respect of non-Indigenous business practices. Because a majority of customers, creditors and debtors of a business will usually be non-Indigenous, it was suggested that successful Indigenous business people must align themselves with the dominant culture.¹⁸⁵ An example of this was provided by Mrs Judy Freeman, Director of Marketing at Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Centre:

The minute that you allow the funerals and the community obligations to close down the business - even for a moment - that business is finished because it would be running along community policy and directives, not commercial policy.¹⁸⁶

The Committee is also cognisant of the findings of research into Indigenous business undertaken by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research on behalf of the Australian Government, and state and territory governments. The key findings were:

• support for learning in Indigenous business must be sensitive to location;
• learning is most effective when tied to earning and conducted through commercial Indigenous business; and
• businesses operated primarily for social and community benefits are not ideal training grounds for Indigenous entrepreneurs.¹⁸⁷

... the development and delivery of economic and Indigenous business development initiatives that recognise commercial factors, but also reflect Indigenous economic, social, cultural and legal realities remain a priority for IBA.¹⁸⁹

There is a need for education and training that is delivered face-to-face, is hands-on, culturally appropriate, and is delivered by trainers who are either Indigenous or experienced with Indigenous learners.¹⁹⁰

Dr Dennis Foley's research identified a need for Indigenous business incubators with links to established mainstream businesses and Indigenous business operators, and associated with vocational and other educational centres. This could be achieved by examining and adapting established business incubator programs in mainstream Australia.¹⁹¹

The Committee believes that there is a need for an effective whole-of-government approach to the delivery of education and skills in relation to Indigenous enterprise. The Committee believes that the federal government should consider how Indigenous Coordination Centres can better play a role in the delivery of services to Indigenous entrepreneurs, based on existing research regarding the needs of Indigenous people in this area. The Committee acknowledges that the role of the business mentors may be instrumental in providing enhanced services in this area.

Family or kinships

One of the issues successful Indigenous entrepreneurs dealt with was the attempts by extended families to obtain money or produce.¹⁹²

... if as an Aboriginal entrepreneur you fail to distinguish between the business and your family obligations, there is a 100 per cent failure rate. If you can disassociate it, you have as good a chance as anybody else of surviving as a business and contributing to the community.¹⁹³

This capital is necessary for reinvestment in the business.¹⁹⁴ Dr Dennis Foley stated:

One of the problems you have when you are Indigenous and in business-such as retail-is that all of a sudden you have relatives coming out of the woodwork. Successful entrepreneurs knew how to say no, because the money had to go back into stock, and they quickly educated people about this.¹⁹⁵

Dr Foley listed the major motivators as a hatred of poverty; a strong desire to provide for children; a positivity to succeed; providing choices in the participants lives; and that it is seen as a form of self determination and participants have more control of their lives.¹⁹⁶ Dr Foley found that a dominant motivator was to provide for the nuclear family and for the wider family, however, successful entrepreneurs 'knew when and how to say no to wider family or other Indigenous people'.¹⁹⁷ Family obligations can therefore be treated as a motivator rather than an impediment.

This was an issue also confronted by Willie Gordon, and resolved by him developing a solution that was compatible with his values, from options provided to him by his mentor.¹⁹⁸

Once an appropriate solution to managing family and kinship obligations has been reached, a successful Indigenous enterprise has the potential not only to achieve economic independence for the entrepreneur herself or himself, but also to create flow-on effects in terms of the welfare and employment prospects of other family and community members.¹⁹⁹

Indigenous Business Australia's commercial programs focus more on families and individuals while other government programs tend to focus on communities or larger organisations.²⁰⁰ Mr Ron Weatherall commented on the different models of Indigenous enterprise development and the identification of best practice in clan or family group approaches.²⁰¹

Greater and greater individualism is evident also as communities urbanise. Therefore, there should be less emphasis on community based businesses and more emphasis on businesses run by individuals, in which wider family members will often be the only employees.²⁰²

Mr Michael Winer commented that:

The businesses that were constructed in the communities were generally council run. They were generally managed by non-Indigenous people and they generally operated on a communist social model of enterprise, so you have to deconstruct that. That is really tough. You have to back the solo little individuals in the community who then become the catalysts for further business development. We are seeing in some of these early communities a few businesses that have been going for two or three years. A range of other family members are saying, 'We want to talk about business; we want to look at business.'²⁰³

Discrimination

Entrepreneurship is actually seen as a way of circumventing discrimination. If you cannot get past discrimination in your entrepreneurship then you are fairly stuffed. It is my opinion that discrimination is particularly difficult to address in legislation, so I am not really advocating that. It requires fundamental change to the behaviour of the people doing the discriminating.²⁰⁶

Concluding comments

The Committee was impressed with the extent and range of Indigenous businesses now succeeding. The Committee believes that this will encourage others to follow this path.

Mrs Cathy Duncan commented that:

It is not about opulence and wealth, because a lot of Indigenous people are not materialistic. They are not looking for that. I think they are just looking to be treated as equal within their community and be called a citizen. I think that is what AES tries to achieve, so that we become quality citizens and take away the black and white altogether.²⁰⁷

There have recently been good practice examples and research that will provide governments with the opportunity to learn from these successes and to stream-line whole-of-government assistance in a more efficient and effective manner. Partnerships between various levels of government, existing businesses and Indigenous entrepreneurs have provided many successful examples to inform future government policies and funding allocations.

Mr Ernest Brimm, Cultural Officer, Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park, Transcript of Evidence, 27 July 2005, p. 7. Back

Mr Daniel Tucker, Managing Director and Owner, Carey Mining Pty Ltd, Transcript of Evidence, 27 October 2005, p. 43. Back

Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Submission No. 72, p. 3 citing Dr Boyd Hunter (2004) Indigenous Australians in the Contemporary Labour Market ABS cat No. 2052.0, ABS Canberra. Back