Presentation of Report Highlights

Editor's Notes

• #2: Thank you Alain I would like to acknowledge that I am on Ngunawal Country and pay my respects to elders part, present and emerging, and to Indigenous leaders who are part of the launch today. Acknowledge the team who produced this work in the Secretariat, the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research at ANU, Jeanette Pope, and peer reviewers from Canada and New Zealand.
• #3: Brief overview of the OECD framework Findings and recommendations
• #5: This report is located within and informed by a global report released in June 2019 at EMRIP in Geneva Active involvement of 14 countries and the European Commission Engaged directly with over 600 people and spent time with 36 First Nation communities Throughout stuck with the fundamental principle about how to activate Indigenous economic potential and facilitate participation in markets … process of learning and adjustment as we conducted the engagement and considered the evidence The recommendations focus on four key ingredients for thriving Indigenous economies: Usable data and information Fostering entrepreneurship Activating land, sea, water and cultural assets Strengthening local economic institutions Encourage you to also review the global report that is available on the OECD I-library
• #6: Now in terms of our data analysis – I will make some key observations
• #7: There is significant potential in the human capital of Indigenous Australians and this will become more important to the Australian economy. The Indigenous population is younger (median age of 23 years compared to 37 years for the non-Indigenous population) and is projected to grow to 1.05 million by 2030 due to a higher fertility rate and the increasing propensity to self-identify.
• #8: Another area of economic contribution is the growing Indigenous estate. Indigenous tenure (Native Title and Statutory land rights) currently covers 51% of Australia’s land mass. It is estimated that this will increase to two-thirds over the next decade due to the resolution of outstanding claims. As we shift to a post-determination era, greater focus will need to be placed on how Indigenous Australians can best utilise their estate, including for commercial benefit.
• #9: Relative to the non-Indigenous population more Indigenous Australians live in lower density economies (in Regional Australia) This chart uses the OECD territorial classification for comparative purposes but similar findings are generated when using the ABS geographic classification. Given these land and human assets, Indigenous Australians have the potential to be important drivers of regional economic development.
• #10: However, Australia is not mobilising the economic potential of Indigenous Australians. There are various reasons for gaps in economic outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians including: Mismatches in skills, experience and location relative to the jobs that businesses are creating. This is likely to become more of a risk in a weaker labour market that places a higher premium on skills. Barriers to activating the potential of land, sea, water and cultural resource rights Discrimination and cultural bias. Lack of inter-generational wealth transfer and experience of participation in markets. Importantly, gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous economic and well-being indicators are much larger in Australia relative to comparable settler countries that inherited British institutions. For example, the Northern Territory has the lowest Indigenous economic outcomes and largest gaps of any region in the OECD. These outcomes are worse than comparable jurisdictions such as Alaska and Nunavut. These findings demonstrate the scope for Australia to learn from other jurisdictions to improve domestic policy settings.
• #11: One novelty of the OECD work was the comparison of economic and demographic indicators at a small area level [213 small regions across 5 countries (+Mexico)] The empirical analysis revealed two key findings: Relatively more Indigenous people live in low density economies Gaps in well-being are larger in these types of regions Again, these gaps are much larger in the Australian context.
• #12: The empirical analysis also revealed a higher level of diversity in economic outcomes for Indigenous Australians across small regions, which was higher again in low density economies. The key implication is that a one size fits all solution is unlikely to work – more so regional and remote areas. So what are the implications? There is unrealised economic potential (I say that deliberately to avoid a deficit approach) Indigenous Australians are relatively more important for regional economies Outcomes are highly diverse and therefore policies need to be context specific
• #13: I will now turn our focus to the policy recommendations First area is Statistics and data governance Data is critical in terms of making informed decisions and being visible in policy and markets…
• #14: What’s working well Relative to peers, strong on the data aspects (NATSISS) Good grass roots efforts at the local level, led by Indigenous communities – using data to define community aspirations and strategies for development Areas for improvement Fragmentation of business data, and lack of focus on business and economic development (For example on the Closing the Gap Clearinghouse [AIHW] there are 300 reports and papers related to research about Indigenous Australians. Of these, only 1 deals specifically with Indigenous entrepreneurship and 4 engage with labour market issues) More granular data, and support for data use driven by Indigenous Australians at local and regional levels
• #15: Recommendations (highlights) Consistent Indigenous business identifier that is operationalised in the statistical system Increasing the frequency of NATSISS Specific support for Indigenous led local data projects to inform community and economic planning Addressing structural barriers related to the use and sharing of data between government agencies and levels of government
• #16: 2nd theme Indigenous business ownership has a range of benefits in terms of: Breaking dependency relationships with government Wealth creation and generating own source revenues Leadership, role models, and mentoring Increased employment Activation of latent assets
• #17: What’s working well Engagement revealed strong and effective local efforts to combine economic participation and community development Increased policy focus in recent years on economic and business development (and a marginal shift away from a predominantly social policy and welfare focus) Areas for improvement Analysis of current policy settings (and relative to international peers) there are three challenges: Lack of coherence across economic policy domains – no comprehensive and integrated policy direction in terms of economic development Lack of focus on land activation. Local traditional owners generally lack the means (authority, capital, information) to make decisions about land use. Too much power sits with statutory agencies and service providers related to local entities such as PBCs. Difficulties for entrepreneurs to access the support and capital needed, particularly at a start-up and early growth phase. This is an issue of the type of financial instruments available and how that support is delivered.
• #18: Recommendations (highlights) First is to develop a national Indigenous economic policy framework that provides comprehensive and integrated direction across entrepreneurship, employment, the activation of land, sea, water and cultural assets, and strengthening local institutions Build a national procurement market underpinned by common rules Change the way business support and financial intermediation is delivered for Indigenous entrepreneurs and small business by establishing a network of local Aboriginal financial institutions (implies a different role for existing institutions such as IBA) The latter draws on the lessons identified from the establishment of local Indigenous financial institutions in the United States and Canada since the 1980s.
• #19: Such differentiated outcomes + attachment of Indigenous Australians to kin and country necessitates a localised approach to policy implementation and economic development. Consistent with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap
• #20: What’s working well Progress has occurred on a number of fronts: Corporations established under the NTA Closing the Gap and earlier co-operation through COAG – signifies a bi-partisan approach Local decision making frameworks – assets and services are devolved to Indigenous organisations, for example in the NT and NSW Areas for improvement Most Indigenous institutions are caught in a cycle of dependency on short term government grant funding making it difficult to be strategies, or incentivise the generation of own source revenues. There are a lack of institutions to develop economies of scale and deliver business and economic development support (hence the focus in the report on co-development and business advisory services) Weak linkages with local government and regional development bodies Lack of tools to deliver a place-based approach (which results in the fragmentation of funding and high transaction costs at the local levl)
• #21: Recommendations (highlights) Focus within the Indigenous Advancements Strategy on institutional capacity building (leadership development, corporate governance, commercial acumen) Focus on training, expert advice, template and tools and peer learning in regards to commercial agreement making for local traditional owner groups Continue to shift the National Indigenous Australians Agency regional presence from grants administration to a community and economic development role, which is critical in terms of brokering solutions on the ground NIAA taking on a whole of government role in terms of setting standards, frameworks and monitoring engagement of Indigenous Australians in decisions that affect their lives. Significant lessons for Australia about how to professionalise, strengthen the capability of Indigenous peoples, and foster linkages with markets. In the Canadian context this includes the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association, and the Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business.
• #22: Thank you for your participation Further information is available on this work from the OECD Secretariat Happy to engage in further dialogue on this work.