Aboriginal Economic Development

The Aboriginal Governance and Leadership Development Program (AGLDP) provides Aboriginal people access to grants and services aimed at building capacity in business, corporate governance, business leadership and procurement.

Support delivered through the five streams of the AGLDP is tailored to the aspirations and development needs of Aboriginal people and entities. The five streams are detailed below.

Aboriginal Procurement Advisory Service

The Aboriginal Procurement Advisory Service stream was established by the department to help Aboriginal businesses find and successfully tender for WA Government procurement contracts. Its goal is to increase the pool of procurement-ready Aboriginal businesses in regional areas that can meet local demand.

Aboriginal owned and operated service provider Morrgul has been engaged to deliver the Aboriginal Procurement Advisory Service initiative, which is available at no cost to Aboriginal businesses across WA. Morrgul provides services such as:

• matching businesses with government procurement opportunities
• assisting with tender applications
• supporting Aboriginal businesses through the procurement process
• help to form joint venture partnerships.

Morrgul has been significantly successful in supporting existing Aboriginal businesses and prospective new businesses to win tenders. The foundation to this success has been a focus on building capacity in governance and management, and ensuring that support is tailored to the aspirations and development needs of Aboriginal business owners and operators, and aligned with their culture and traditions.

Building Better Aboriginal Businesses grants

The Building Better Aboriginal Business (BBAB) stream is a key element of the broader AGLDP.

BBAB aims to assist in building corporate governance and business management capacity within Aboriginal corporations in regional and remote locations in Western Australia to grow an opportunities pipeline aligned to regional business development opportunities.

Aboriginal entities in regional and remote locations can apply for BBAB grants to build capacity in business governance so they can pursue new business opportunities.  

Funding is delivered via a targeted competitive grants program. Aboriginal people and entities can apply for grants to fund corporate and business governance training, and targeted industry skills development.

The Aboriginal Pastoral Program is comprised of business and governance support offered by the department, and 3 targeted streams of support for Aboriginal held pastoral properties. 

The Aboriginal Pastoral Program is aimed at meeting the economic development needs of a new generation of Aboriginal pastoral enterprises, while still supporting the old. Since the 1990s, we have been supporting long-term economic development pathways that can meet the generational goals of Aboriginal people. This includes the need to grow self-managed and profitable pastoral enterprises that can be passed on to the next generation.

Background

Aboriginal pastoral enterprises represent 31% of the entire pastoral estate in Western Australia, meaning that there is enormous potential to create a pathway to economic empowerment and self-determination through a thriving Aboriginal pastoral sector.

Since 1996, DPIRD initiatives, such as the Kimberley Indigenous Management Support Project and the Indigenous Land Service, were pioneers of an approach that was decades ahead of the vision and intent of Closing the Gap. This was evidenced by a number of public sector and economic development awards during the 2000s, most notably Premier's and Prime Minister's awards for excellence. This approach, which became the backbone of DPIRD’s Aboriginal Economic Development program including the Aboriginal Pastoral Program initiative, ensures that support is:

• driven by the goals of Aboriginal people
• delivered through a collaborative partnership that is led by Aboriginal pastoral corporation boards
• designed to maintain the integrity of culture, traditions and lifestyles
• focused on generational goals
• whole-of-enterprise and whole-of-community capacity building, to enable successive generations to expand on the vision of their elders and improve their way of life.

Foundation for business governance

Governance support is the foundation of DPIRD’s pastoral support initiatives, and the starting point for pastoral enterprise development. Improved governance is the key to productivity, profitability and growth, and leads to better planning and financial management. Improved governance can also lead to better decision-making in relation to profitability factors such as:

• herd capacity
• infrastructure
• financing
• whether to adopt alternative business models.

DPIRD’s Aboriginal Economic Development officers work with Aboriginal pastoral corporation boards and station managers to ensure that supports are tailored to their development needs. This may require the engagement of professional, legal, accounting or other specialist service providers.

Setting up for success

The setting up for success initiative supports Aboriginal pastoral enterprises to review and transition to new business models, such as agistment, subleases and grazing licences. New models can lead to commercial investment and provide an opportunity for pastoral corporations to step away from self-management and increase income generation and investment in their properties.

For some pastoral enterprises, alternative business models can result in:

• improving pastoral property infrastructure such as fencing, herd and waterpoints
• Increasing on Country employment and training opportunities for Aboriginal youth
• reduced animal welfare risks.

We have produced a suite of setting up for success guides and factsheets, specific to growing and emerging land and sea-based primary industries. These include carbon farming, sandalwood, bushfoods, native seeds and alternative pastoral businesses.

Download the suite of setting up for success guides

Aboriginal Pastoral Academy

The Aboriginal Pastoral Academy was established to nurture the next generation of Aboriginal pastoral employees in the WA's northern regions.

The Academy is a partnership between Nyamba Buru Yawuru, Job Pathways. and the Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen’s Association with support from DPIRD.

The successful initiative has been operating in the West Kimberley since 2021, and since 2024 in the East Kimberley.

The program aims to support around 20 graduates per year who have completed pre-employment pastoral training programs to be employed on Kimberley and Pilbara cattle stations.

Graduates from the entry level program are intensively mentored for their first two years of employment, with their workplaces also receiving a range of support throughout the placement.

The Academy also supports existing Aboriginal pastoralists to build their skills and leadership through delivery of regular leadership, business and pastoral skills training programs.  

Learn more on the Aboriginal Pastoral Academy website

The Farm Business Resilience program will help farmers identify gaps in their business strategy and provide them with the tools they need to prepare for, and manage, risk and improve farm business resilience. 

The Western Australilan Government is working with the Australian Government's Future Drought Fund Farm Buinsess Resillience program (FBR).

The Aboriginal primary industries program covers the following initiatives:

• Aboriginal Pastoral Academy East Kimberley Expansion in partnership with Job Pathways and Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen's Association.
• Indigenous Aquaculture and Fishing Project in partnership with the Indigenous Saltwater Advisory Group.
• First Nations Regenerative Agribusiness Capability Project in partnership with Outback Academy Australia.
• Aboriginal Bushfoods Business Support Service with support from Outback Academy Australia and Western Australian Indigenous Tourism Operators Council.
• Aboriginal Sandalwood Industry Capability Program in partnership with K Farmer Dutjahn Foundation.