Parliamentary Inquiry into economic self-determination
Federal Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, chaired by Mutthi Mutthi and Wamba Wamba woman Senator Jana Stewart, has recently commenced an Inquiry into Economic Self-determination and Opportunities for First Nations Australians and is accepting written submissions until 24 May.
This inquiry will look at enablers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ engagement in training, employment, and business development, and how to scale up those enablers and remove barriers to community-led economic growth. Enablers flagged in the Inquiry Terms of Reference include things like the economic and social infrastructure required to support job creation/retention and business success; Indigenous cultural and intellectual property; and partnership structures that embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as equal economic partners in the long term.
Lowitja Institute has long advocated for the importance of the economic determinants of health and wellbeing, alongside the cultural, social, political, and planetary determinants. Our Policy & Advocacy team will make a submission to this inquiry, and we encourage you to do so as well if you have an interest or expertise in this area. Entrepreneurs, educators, trainers, industry leaders – this inquiry needs you!
For some inspiration, try revisiting the ‘Building Our Economies’ chapter of the most recent Close the Gap Campaign Report (drafted by the Lowitja Institute team) and the recommendations that came out of it.
