As leaders gather at Garma this weekend to debate the future of First Nations economic development, one question should cut through the conversation: will Australia back the institutions Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have already built?
There is interest in different investment models, financing mechanisms and national institutions to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prosperity.
However, in having this conversation, we risk missing one of the strongest economic foundations already in place.
One of Australia's largest and most successful First Nations economic sectors is not waiting to be invented. It already exists in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sector.
Across the country, community-controlled organisations employ tens of thousands of people, develop local workforces, strengthen governance, buy from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses and reinvest back into the communities they serve.
For too long, this sector has been seen only through the services it delivers.
It should also be recognised for the economies it builds.
Strong economies are built on strong institutions: organisations that develop leaders, create opportunity, build capability and give communities the power to shape their own future.
Our Aboriginal community-controlled health and early childhood services employ thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, creating jobs and opportunities across the nation.
For example, when people think about the Kimberley economy, they often think of mining, tourism or agriculture. But organisations like the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service (KAMS) are just as critical. As an Aboriginal community-controlled organisation, KAMS and its 8 members are not simply service providers. They are an economic powerhouse, contributing around $375 million to the Kimberley economy through employing hundreds of people, investing millions in local infrastructure and businesses, training the next generation of leaders, and reinvesting in the long-term prosperity of communities.
Our Land Councils too play a leading role. The Northern and Central Land Councils and the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council have not only given us our land rights. They are leaders in employing our people, supporting our businesses and building our wealth.
Yet Closing the Gap is still too often treated as a social policy agenda. We measure progress through health, education, justice and employment outcomes. Those outcomes matter enormously, but they are not the whole story.
The National Agreement on Closing the Gap is the blueprint for First Nations-led economic development.
Its Priority Reforms recognise a basic truth: lasting prosperity is not created by governments delivering more programs. It comes from strengthening the institutions that enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to lead our own development.
Shared decision-making means communities shape investment rather than simply respond to it. Strengthening the community-controlled sector builds organisations that create jobs, retain wealth locally and support Aboriginal enterprise. Transforming government removes barriers to real partnership. Better access to data helps communities identify opportunities and make informed economic decisions.
These are not just governance reforms.
They are the foundations of stronger Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander economies.
The risk is that, in searching for the next big economic solution for our people, Australia overlooks the answer already in front of us.
No investment model will reach its full potential if it bypasses strong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander institutions.
The foundation is already here.
Every Aboriginal Community Controlled health organisation, legal service, children's service, family support organisation, housing provider and peak body is part of the economic development story. Together, they create career pathways, develop leaders, support Aboriginal businesses, build local capability and keep wealth and decision-making in community hands.
This experience also matters beyond Australia. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations have decades of practical knowledge in community-led development, governance and partnership. As Australia builds deeper relationships across the Pacific, there is much we can contribute, and much we can learn, from First Nations peoples and community organisations across our region.
Economic development cannot be delivered to communities from the outside.
It must be built by communities, through the institutions we control.
If Australia is serious about accelerating First Nations economic development, it should start by investing in the institutions Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have already built.
The National Agreement on Closing the Gap gives us the blueprint.
Now Australia needs the courage to follow it.
Donnella Mills is the Lead Convenor of the Coalition of Peaks and Chair of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO).
