Summary
The Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and Supply Nation have partnered to develop a landmark report. This examines the experiences of First Nations businesses involved in exporting and international trade and tourism.
The research uses Supply Nation's First Nations’ business registry as well as data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS’s) Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment (BLADE) to build a dataset on First Nations businesses.
A key research objective of this report is to increase the data and analysis available on First Nations’ international trade to inform shared decision-making amongst stakeholders for the benefit of First Nations people.
Key results
The report made several key discoveries, including:
- The turnover generated by First Nations businesses from tourism has grown significantly in recent years, with increased interest from international visitors supporting this trend.
- First Nations businesses in tourism-related industries employed almost 7,000 workers and generated nearly $1 billion in turnover.
- The recent increase in international visitors participating in Indigenous cultural tourism experiences represents growth opportunities for the sector.
- First Nations exporting and importing businesses are typically larger when compared with all First Nations businesses studied, employing more staff and generating higher turnover.
- First Nations goods exporters typically generated almost 9 times more in turnover and employed over 7 times more full-time equivalent workers than all First Nations businesses studied.
- First Nations goods exporters studied generated over $670 million in turnover in 2022-23 with significant opportunities for the sector to benefit more from exporting.
Contact us
Visit the Go Global Toolkit, contact Austrade online or call 13 28 78.