Indigenous

Gerard Matera is helping turn positive sentiment around Aboriginal reconciliation in the business community into genuine change through indigenous-owned building company Marawar.

The state government awarded 4.77 per cent of its contracts to Aboriginal businesses in the 2018-19 financial year, substantially exceeding its own target, although the contribution of government agencies was highly variable.

Indigenous skincare business Jummi Factory has gained financial backing from Minderoo Foundation after receiving top prize at the inaugural Dream Summit in Sydney last week.

Small indigenous business Gebro Contracting, which has worked with Main Roads and Georgiou Group, has entered administration.

Main Roads Western Australia chief executive Peter Woronzow is embracing the unique opportunity for community development that comes with managing one of the world’s biggest road networks.

A 50-50 joint venture between Cape and Aboriginal business Kurtarra has announced it secured an optical fibre contract with Rio Tinto.

Twelve big companies have pledged to lift their indigenous procurement to 3 per cent of their annual spend, seeking to match targets the federal and state governments have already set for their own agencies.

Three Aboriginal businesses based in Western Australia, including IPS Management Consultants, have been awarded contracts totalling $1.5 million to help other Aboriginal organisations build capability and win additional commercial work.

Aboriginal-owned Redspear Safety and UK-based Safehouse launched new business called Safespear on Tuesday night, a safety services company chaired by Redspear’s Barry McGuire.

Local Aboriginal leaders hope WA can match the success of the federal government’s indigenous procurement policy.

SPECIAL REPORT: Clontarf Foundation, The Graham (Polly) Farmer Foundation, The Girls Academy, and Glass Jar Australia.

SPECIAL REPORT: Carol Innes is heartened by the positive steps already taken towards reconciliation, despite the enormous amount of ground still to be covered.

SPECIAL REPORT: Barry McGuire says Redspear Safety’s recent emergence has been built on tailoring its offering to what customers need.

SPECIAL REPORT: Reconciliation Action Plans are used by hundreds of organisations across Australia to deliver better outcomes. Click through to our Indigenous Development feature.

SPECIAL REPORT: Len Collard has embraced his destiny to educate a broad audience about Noongar culture and history.

SPECIAL REPORT: Ken Wyatt has overcome numerous challenges on the path to becoming the most powerful advocate for Aboriginal Australians.

SPECIAL REPORT: Helen Milroy believes courage, effort, and collaboration are needed to help heal intergenerational trauma suffered by indigenous Australians.

SPECIAL REPORT: Among her many talents, Glenda Kickett is drawing on her sports experience to boost school attendance rates for indigenous girls.

Fortescue Metals Group’s recent awarding of $179 million in contracts to Aboriginal businesses highlights two different approaches to indigenous development.

Two Aboriginal businesses have been awarded $179 million of contracts by Fortescue Metals Group, with chief executive Elizabeth Gaines saying the miner was focused on practical initiatives to end disparity.

Kalgoorlie business Dutjahn Sandalwood Oils, which supplies global fashion brands including Estee Lauder, has become the first Australian organisation to win the United Nations’ Equator Prize.

More than 1,300 people attended a National Reconciliation Week breakfast this morning in Perth and heard newly installed minister Ken Wyatt deliver a positive message about progress to date and urge optimism and trust for the future.

Five indigenous students are the inaugural recipients of the Dr Tracy Westerman Aboriginal Psychology Scholarship at Curtin University, with its patron, Western Australian governor Kim Beazley, officially launching the program at Government House.

Woodside Petroleum, Curtin University, Lendlease and Qantas are among a raft of prominent organisations to join the country’s big miners, major law firms and finance businesses in pledging support for the politically contentious Uluru statement.

One of the state’s largest indigenous contractors, which counted Fortescue Metals Group and Roy Hill Holdings among its clients, has been placed into liquidation.

Fortescue Metals Group has agreed to revise the alignment of its Eliwana rail line, currently under construction in the Pilbara, to avoid damaging Aboriginal heritage sites. FMG’s decision is a win for Wintawari Guruma Aboriginal Corporation.

Wintawari Guruma Aboriginal Corporation has failed in its attempt to overturn a key state government ruling concerning Fortescue Metals Group’s Eliwana iron ore project.

Big business has stepped up its campaign in favour of a constitutionally enshrined ‘voice’ for indigenous Australians, with BHP Group chief executive Andrew Mackenzie using a speech in Perth this morning to endorse the proposal.

Indigenous contractor Gumala Enterprises has secured a $16 million contract at Rio Tinto’s West Angelas mine, in what is the company’s single biggest contract win in the past five years.

The state government has reluctantly accepted an improved offer from the Commonwealth for remote housing funding.

Kimberley Wild Expeditions, a member of the Indigenous Champions Program, won the tourism industry’s highest prize over the weekend, just days after the Tourism Council WA called on the state government to maintain funding for Aboriginal tourism.

Indigenous contractor Gumala Enterprises has secured a series of new contracts, including with iron ore miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, worth a combined $15 million.