People First Fire’s, Jason Hardy & Dean Broadwood attend the 2nd NSW Aboriginal Business Roundtable
The 2nd NSW Aboriginal Business RoundTable took place in Sydney at the Kimberwalli Centre for Excellence on the 9th of May 2022, with the primary objective being to hear more from business on what “success” for the Aboriginal business sector in NSW looks like.
The Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, the Hon. Ben Franklin MLC, opened the event highlighting the significance of the growth of Indigenous businesses.
“We’re joined by the most significant business owners in Australia and we understand that part of our job in Government is to actually act for people and act for organisations. We know that there’s no silver bullet in any of these issues its about continual improvement, engagement and collaboration.[1]”
The aim of the event was to gain insights and facilitate discussion for what the NSW Government can do to make it easier to support Aboriginal businesses across a variety of industries.
As a first people owned business and the first national indigenous fire and life safety company, People First Fire’s (PFF) Managing Director, Jason Hardy and General Manager, Dean Broadwood attended the event, along with over 35+ Aboriginal Business from various sectors across NSW, the round table met to discuss the three proposed areas of focus for Aboriginal Businesses in NSW that had been identified during the inaugural roundtable in 2021:
- Focus Area 1: Strengthen accountability & transparency
- Focus Area 2: Increase and simplify arrangements for Aboriginal businesses to partner with government
- Focus Area 3: Build and recognise Aboriginal talent
Businesses in NSW can, and must, work in partnership to realise the potential of Aboriginal businesses’ as it has been acknowledged that a thriving Aboriginal Business sector is key to Closing the Gap. This will result in the creation of a new generation of entrepreneurs growing their own business knowledge, networks, assets and wealth and, in turn, contribute to removing barriers to employment which is a key factor in achieving outcomes in health, education and justice.
“As Australia’s first national Indigenous fire safety and emergency training provider, operating with a unique focus on “putting people first” in community safety we feel it is important to engage with Indigenous business to create a significant and measurable social impact across all sectors” says Jason.
“It was great to be able to attend the 2nd NSW Aboriginal Business Round Table to discuss the focus areas with other indigenous businesses, especially with the knowledge that the feedback from these roundtables will be the foundation that shapes the NSW implementation plan for closing the gap and provide the information the NSW government needs to grow and support Aboriginal businesses in this state”.
To find out more about the NSW Aboriginal Business Roundtables visit: https://www.aboriginalaffairs.nsw.gov.au/our-agency/our-minister/ministerial-media-releases/nsw-aboriginal-business-roundtable-launches/
[1] https://yarpa.com.au/nsw-aboriginal-business-roundtable/