There is a significant issue that's been under the radar for a long time and it's at risk of being forgotten.
And that's the blakwashing (like greenwashing) of the Indigenous Procurement Contracts (IPC), which are now worth billions of dollars. With a lot of money to be made, it's no wonder that many opportunistic people are trying to get their hands on these big contracts.
Unlike the recent greenwashing legislation passed in Australia, blakwashing does not have any laws to protect consumers and the public from misleading or deceitful marketing of an "Indigenous business" or PR stunts from the government and large corporations.
For example, a recent report by the Federal Government on its Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS) spending revealed that 71% of its spending or $816 million, allegedly went to "Indigenous organisations".
I say allegedly because the government official who gave these figures is the same person who claimed government entities like Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) are "Indigenous owned and controlled" business.
If you don't know, IBA is a 100% government-owned and controlled Commonwealth entity. It employs Indigenous bureaucrats to run its operation, but this should not imply in any way that it's an "Indigenous owned and controlled" business.
When it comes to issues of closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people or even greenwashing, common sense is sometimes overlooked or misinterpreted by people with agendas of their own.
This is why it's important that governments rethink their definitions of what an Indigenous business is.
Even though the IBA's funding from the government was not counted towards 71% of the IAS spending or $816 million, the fact that they would consider IBA an Indigenous owned and control business is concerning because many Aboriginal people would be concerned that some non-Indigenous businesses are actually winning a large amount of the 71% that was claimed to be going to Indigenous businesses.
One of the biggest concerns with these Indigenous social procurement targets from the government is that most of the money goes to non-Indigenous businesses.
If they have addressed this issue by calling a lot more non-Indigenous businesses "Indigenous" to make it seem as though they are supporting Indigenous businesses and/or communities more than the Liberal party, then surely this is blakwashing at its worst.
If the Australian government had the opportunity to give $3 billion dollars' worth of contracts to organisations with the aim of saving the planet from climate change, but instead gave it to Shell or other planet-destroying businesses, many Australians would be in an uproar.
And rightly so, as it is nonsensical.
But that is what they are doing in the First Nations business space, and this is why the government (current or future) should implement laws like those used for greenwashing to add credibility to the Indigenous business industry and increase consumer confidence in supporting or purchasing from an Indigenous business.
No matter how hard they work or how much they struggle to succeed, getting government contracts and opportunities seems close to impossible for real Indigenous businesses.
And unless the government changes the way they view what an Indigenous business is, they won't be able to help create meaningful changes towards closing the disparity gaps– or contribute to a more positive future worldwide.
Dean Foley is a Kamilaroi man and founder of Indigenous business accelerator Barayamal
