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Australia has good reason to be optimistic about the future of Indigenous business and its role in the national and international economy, a conference at The University of Western Australia was told yesterday.

Warren Mundine, the CEO of NSW Native Title Services and former ALP National President, said he expected Indigenous enterprises to be well and truly on the global stage within 20 years, as Australia's mining industry is today.

"I see a lot of opportunities and growth for Indigenous business.  I also see many education opportunities, and a bright future," told the Indigenous Business, Corporations and Entrepreneurship Conference 2011 .

Mr Mundine said it was vitally important to look beyond Australia's shores and reflect on history to better understand how diverse cultures and races fought their way out adversity.  He cited the example of Jewish people, who valued education and business development as their pathway to freedom and independence.

"We have to look at how we can get our kids into business.  And the first thing we have to kill is that idea that business is not an Aboriginal thing, it's a white man's game," he said.  "Business is a human game, a global game.  We have to be part of it if we are going to lift our people out of poverty."

Indigenous leader and CEO of Kooya Consultancy, Kim Collard, spoke of the "third space" in which Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal worlds came together.

He said the great amount of interest in yesterday's conference and attendance by leaders from the public, private and community sectors throughout Australia illustrated the need and desire of people to engage in that space.

Mr Collard said it was important to take time to reflect on how far Indigenous development had come in the 18 years since the advent of Native Title.

"For the first 10 years everyone was unsure of what this new space meant.  However over the past eight years there has been major movement in the sector, predominantly driven by the private and resource sectors," he said.

Yesterday's forum was the inaugural annual conference of the Centre for Social Impact, located within the UWA Business School.

Media references

Sonia Nolan , Community Engagement and  (+61 8)  6488 8562  /  (+61 4) 01 034 103
Corporate Affairs Manager, Centre for Social Impact
Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 00 700 783