Top ten Indigenous resources for business studies

There has been a lot of emphasis over the last decade on the creation of vocational and educational opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and rightly so. Emphasis on inspiring and increasing access to career opportunities definitely plays a part in redressing inequity. Programmes to date have tended to focus on increasimg Indigenous students participation in apprenticeships & trades, ín sport, in education, health, the arts and law.

One area that is not discussed at great length as an option for Indigenous students is business and commerce. This may be as as a result of few visible Indigenous role models in the business arena. Lucky for young people today however, there are quite a few business role models out there.

Here are our top ten (so far) -

1) Aboriginal Business Magazine is published by Willmett Group in Brisbane. Coming out each month, it is a very reasonably price, well designed publication featuring a range of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in business.

2) Indigenous Business Council of Australia (IBCA) is a national body seeking to represent the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities in business.

3) Mandurah Hunter Indigenous Chamber was the first Australian Indigenous chamber of commerce. It supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business people in the Hunter region.

5) South East Queensland Indigenous Chamber of Commerce was established five years ago to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business people in South East Queensland.

6) Victorian Indigenous Business Directory by the Koori Business Network is a directory of over 100 businesses and organisations in Victoria.

7) Yulkuum Jerrang, Victorian Indigenous Economic Development Conference is a major annual conference held in Melbourne each year for the past three years. Speakers and participants from all around Australia attend.

8) Kinaway Victorian Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce is an active chamber of commerce based in Victoria.

9) Aboriginal Enterprises in Mining, Exploration and Energy Ltd (AEMEE) is a not-for-profit organisations created to support Indigenous businesses in mining and allied industries.

10) Inguides is an independent classifieds and directory created by Cairns based media company Blackvine Media for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses, organisations and events.

I look forward to writing a second top ten list of business resources and organisations over the next month.

Leesa Watego

Some Aboriginal People Are More Aboriginal Than Others

Last September (2011) I attended the annual Oodgeroo Noonuccal public lecture at QUT by scholar Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson. Her lecture was titled Race Matters: Representations of Aboriginality in the Media. In it she explored the racialised history of private media in Australia, particularly it's coverage of Aboriginal Peoples and 'issues'. It was a very timely lecture given the judgement of the Pat Eatcock v Andrew Bolt case due at the time.

Last night fellow edu-tweet Luke Pearson sent out the a link to a shortened version of that paper given at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney (October) for the panel session: Some Aboriginal People Are More Aboriginal Than Others. The description for this session:

White Australia has always had a view on what makes a 'real' Aboriginal person. Andrew Bolt is the merely the latest in a long line of commentators who have put forward their views about 'black' and 'white' Aboriginals. Spread across a continent after 200 years of colonisation, Aboriginal people are diverse in a way that is at odds with media stereotypes of 'traditional' Aboriginal people living in troubled remote communities. At a crucial time for recognition and reconciliation, does 'white' or 'black' matter? Who speaks for Aboriginal people and defines who they are? 

Also on the panel was Associate Professor Bronwyn Fredericks who powerfully explored the politics of naming and identity.

When watching the lectures, take time to consider your (Indigenous or non-Indigenous) understanding of identity within Australia. Consider the ways in which you and those around you use language to define others according to criteria you decide. What is the impact of that on other people and the way they're represented?

Image below from someone on Twitter late 2011 during the post-Bolt flurry. You need to watch the video to understand the relevance of the slide below.

Leesa Watego

Participation of Indigenous People in the 2012 Queensland Election

Last year I created a post about how to explore Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander perspectives of democracy, politics and civics in your classroom. Like other Australians, one of the ways that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can contribute to Australian democracy is by being active voters. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can also participate by standing for election.

Queensland does not have a great history of electing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples with only Mr Eric Deeral representing the seat of Cook in 1974 - 1977 for the National Party.

The business of politics is not easy, but the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in all levels of government - local, state and federal, and across all the divides - left, centre and right - is something we should be aiming for in order to improve the representation of Indigenous voices and ideas.

This year's election sees three Indigenous candidates competing for the seat of Inala in Brisbane's south-west, on behalf of The Greens, the LNP and the Australia Party. Michael Quall, the Greens candidate for Inala pointed out yesterday -

Putting aside our individual politics for a moment, it's worth pausing to acknowledge how significant it is to have three Indigenous candidates running in the Inala electorate - win, lose or draw, this is a positive development for the community in this region.

I personally would like to wish all the candidates a great few weeks of campaigning.

Cheers, Leesa

The presentation below is a compilation of candidates standing for the 2012 Queensland election. They're listed in alphabetical order.


So far I only have three candidates, if you know of others please let me know. Is the information correct? Am I missing something? Please email me: lwatego [@] gmail.com



More information:

• History of Indigenous Vote by the Australian Electoral Commission
• Electoral Milestones / Timetable for Indigenous Australians by the Australian Electoral Commission
• List of Indigenous Australians in politics and public service (Wikipedia)
• The right to vote is not enjoyed equally by all Australians (February 2010) HREOC

Leesa Watego