When Australians talk about Closing the Gap, the conversation often centres on health outcomes, education, housing, and life expectancy. These are vital measures — but there is a foundational piece that does not always get the attention it deserves: economic self-determination through business ownership.

The evidence is clear and compelling. Indigenous business ownership is not just one part of the solution to entrenched disadvantage — for many communities, it is the engine that drives all the others.

The Scale of the Opportunity

Australia’s Indigenous business sector is larger and more impactful than many people realise. The latest Indigenous Business Snapshot shows Indigenous businesses contribute more than $16 billion to the Australian economy, employ 116,795 people and pay $4.2 billion in wages.

Yet the opportunity remains vastly under-realised. Indigenous people make up around 3% of the population but own only around 0.06% of Australia’s businesses. The gap between those two numbers represents enormous untapped potential — for individuals, for communities, and for the national economy.

The number of Indigenous business owners reached an estimated 29,200 in 2021, and growth is accelerating. The Indigenous business sector’s revenue is growing faster — estimated at 12.5% per annum — than the broader SME sector. The trajectory is positive, but closing the gap in business ownership proportionality will require sustained effort from government, industry, and the private sector alike.

Every Dollar Does More

One of the most powerful arguments for investing in Indigenous businesses is what economists call the multiplier effect — and in this sector, that multiplier is extraordinary.

For every dollar of revenue spent with First Nations enterprises, they create $4.41 of economic and social value — a higher social return on investment than many businesses working in mainstream industries.

The Supply Nation Sleeping Giant Rises report, released in 2025, puts an even larger figure to this impact. Indigenous-owned businesses in Australia are generating $42.6 billion in social value annually through their operations. For every dollar in revenue generated, Indigenous businesses return $3.66 in measurable social and economic value, with benefits reaching deep into communities, households and future generations.

When you engage an Aboriginal business — whether as a government agency, a corporation, or an individual consumer — your spending does not just purchase a service. It flows back into communities in ways that government programs alone simply cannot replicate.

Business Ownership Changes Lives — Not Just Balance Sheets

The impact of Indigenous business ownership extends far beyond revenue figures. The data on what business ownership does for individuals and families is striking.

Among business owners surveyed for the Sleeping Giant Rises report, 86 per cent reported that they had more control over their lives as a result of owning a business. Ninety-five percent said they felt prouder of who they are, while 89 per cent said business ownership allowed them to express their culture more fully.

Nearly 66,000 First Nations people are employed by Indigenous businesses, and 84 per cent of owners said those employees were better able to support families and feel positive about life. Many owners also reported more home ownership among staff, with more than six-in-ten believing employees were more likely to own homes. Seven-in-ten business owners said young people in their families were more likely to finish Year 12.

These are not abstract economic outcomes. These are the very outcomes — health, education, housing, family stability — that the Closing the Gap framework is designed to achieve. Business ownership is delivering them from the ground up.

Employment: Addressing the Gap Where It Matters Most

Employment is one of the most critical Closing the Gap targets. There is currently a 6.3 percentage point gap to close on employment participation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Sixty per cent of working-age Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live in rural and remote areas, where employment rates are lower than in the city — meaning economic empowerment efforts must be focused there.

Indigenous businesses are uniquely positioned to address this. First Nations businesses are 40 to 100 times more likely to employ First Nations people than non-Indigenous businesses. No mainstream employer or government jobs program can match that ratio.

As Professor Michelle Evans, Director of the Dilin Duwa Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership at the University of Melbourne, puts it: “The Indigenous corporate ecosystem isn’t some niche group of small businesses. It employs more Australians than the Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac combined.”

Furthermore, a large percentage of Indigenous sole traders and partnerships — 56% of sole traders and 78% of partnerships — are based in rural and remote communities, providing employment opportunities for people to remain connected to Country rather than relocate to cities. This is economically, culturally, and socially invaluable.

Self-Determination: The Missing Piece

Government programs and welfare payments have their place — but they are not, and have never been, sufficient on their own. What the evidence consistently shows is that genuine self-determination, including economic self-determination, is what drives lasting change.

As Associate Professor Michelle Evans notes, “First Nations Australians are pursuing business as a vehicle for economic self-determination in encouraging numbers. The contribution of Indigenous businesses is not just the monetary amount — there is also the story of self-determination through the vehicle of business, the local benefits especially in regional Australia, and the sharing of cultural knowledge which is crucial to the world’s oldest continuing culture.”

Economic self-determination is about Indigenous people securing economic rights to control and have responsibility for their own affairs — social, political, economic, and cultural — through genuine decision-making powers, meaningful participation, and freedom from discrimination.

Business ownership is one of the most direct paths to that reality.

What Government Is Doing — and What Still Needs to Change

Recognition of the link between business ownership and Closing the Gap is growing at the policy level. The Commonwealth’s Indigenous Procurement Policy targets have increased from 2.5% to 3% of total contract value as of 1 July 2025, rising annually until they reach 4% by 2030. This means more government spending is being directed toward Indigenous businesses each year.

Indigenous Business Australia issued $77.2 million in finance to 172 Indigenous businesses in the 2024–25 year, and also supported 185 Indigenous entrepreneurs in building their capability and delivered business workshops to 866 budding business people.

These are meaningful steps. But the sector’s own researchers and leaders are clear that government procurement alone will not close the gap. Data shows that the Indigenous business and corporation ecosystem is by no means reliant on the Indigenous Procurement Policy or government contracts — which is itself a sign of maturity and resilience. What is needed now is a shift in how financial institutions, corporations, and investors engage with the sector.

A Joint Standing Committee report on economic self-determination recommended strengthening and developing new instruments to enhance First Nations people’s access to finance and capital, calling on all levels of government, financial institutions, and investors to remove impediments to responsible lending and capital flow.

The Role of Directories and Procurement Platforms

One of the most practical ways to connect the demand for change with real outcomes is through directories like this one. Every time a business or government agency uses the Aboriginal Business Directory to find and engage a First Nations supplier, they are:

• Directing spending toward businesses that return outsized social value to communities
• Helping close the employment gap by supporting businesses that prioritise hiring Indigenous Australians
• Building the track record and commercial confidence of emerging Aboriginal enterprises
• Contributing to self-determination in a direct, tangible way

The infrastructure of connection matters. The Indigenous business sector is not a story of disadvantage — it is a story of empowerment and self-determination, and we need to have a positive lens on what is often a deficit conversation.

A Final Word

Closing the Gap is not just a government responsibility. It is a shared national undertaking — one that every business, buyer, and individual can contribute to through the choices they make about where they spend their money.

First Nations people with a tertiary qualification have not just closed the employment gap — their employment rates are higher than non-Indigenous tertiary qualified people. The growth in education could see First Nations people add over $53 billion extra to the Australian economy over 20 years. The potential is there. The momentum is building. What is needed now is investment, engagement, and trust.

Supporting Indigenous business ownership is not a charity exercise. It is one of the smartest economic and social investments Australia can make.

Find and engage Aboriginal-owned businesses across Australia at the Aboriginal Business Directory — and be part of the solution.

This article draws on data from Supply Nation, the University of Melbourne’s Dilin Duwa Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership, Indigenous Business Australia, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.