A leading finance sector organisation says the growing First Nations economy should be supported by Indigenous accountants and financial professionals with the required knowledge.

In Australia, only one in 200 chartered accountants are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand are offering scholarships to Indigenous students and graduates as a "gateway" to the profession's "peak membership body".

The four $10,000 scholarships stretch to cover CA's membership fees, students' program fees and study masterclass workshops and access to the group's teaching team for a final year student or graduate of an accredited bachelor's degree.

"Scholarships like this help to remove financial barriers and allow recipients to fully focus on passing the CA Program which is the gateway to a future professional career. With costs covered - including CA Program fees, workshops and provisional membership - there is one less thing to worry about," CA ANZ chief executive Ainslie van Onselen told National Indigenous Times.

It's the eighth year of the program.

CA ANZ represents more than 140,000 financial professionals.

"There are a number of reasons why we offer these scholarships and build these important partnerships," Ms van Onselen said.

"Supporting Indigenous people who are passionate about studying accounting and making a difference in their communities, builds a more inclusive and representative profession.

"This is particularly important as we see the number of Indigenous-owned businesses continue to rise. These businesses need to be supported by accountants and financial professionals with the right knowledge to advise and support them."

University of Melbourne research indicates First Nations businesses contribute $16 billion to the Australian economy in revenue each year.

In Australia just 0.5 per cent of chartered accountants are Indigenous, while in Aoteraoa the representation of Māori with the qualification in the field sits at 3.4 per cent.

It's a significant underreprentation, Ms van Onselen said, with the scholarship and it's equivalent across the Tasman "one of several actions we're taking to improve these statistics".

"We also work in close partnership with a panel of our members in Australia who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander as well as the Ngā Kaitatau Māori o Aotearoa – the National Māori Accountants Network – in New Zealand.

Applications for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scholarship are open until September 21.