Indigenous

Employment provider Programmed hopes to increase the number of indigenous employees in the national workforce by 5,000 within a decade, the company said at an announcement with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Generation One founder Andrew Forrest in Canberra today.

BHP Billiton has extended its partnership with indigenous organisation Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa, following the announcement of a $14.7 million contribution to the Martu Ranger program over the next five years.

Indigenous Construction Resource Group has diversified its business by purchasing consulting group NANA Australia, the local offshoot of a giant Alaskan native corporation.

Indigenous contractor Guma ICRG has won a contract for work at Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill iron ore mine in the Pilbara for an undisclosed amount.

A new sandalwood oil processing facility has been opened in the Goldfields.

Initiatives to encourage indigenous entrepreneurship such as accelerators, incubators and a government-backed venture capital fund were part of a suite of policies recommended by KPMG at the recent Indigenous Business, Enterprise and Corporations Conference held at the University of Western Australia.

Western Australia’s largest indigenous contractor has parted ways with chief executive Jeff McGlinn, less than a year after the former NRW Holdings boss was lured out of retirement.

Guildford-based BYAC Contracting has been placed into liquidation after losing a long-running contract at the Murrin Murrin nickel project and failing to establish itself as a training provider.

Indigenous corporations in Western Australia have experienced a fall in average income for the first time in five years, though the state’s largest Aboriginal corporations, listed in the BNiQ Search Engine, have defied the downturn.

A Federal Court ruling that was the first ever assessment of native title compensation in Australia is expected to lead to more claims by Aboriginal groups.

A subsidiary of TFS Corporation and a joint venture between a Melbourne oils producer and a local indigenous business have been shortlisted for wild sandalwood oil processing contracts with the state government.

A long-awaited state government report on the future of remote indigenous communities doesn't overtly refer to closures controversially flagged in late 2014, but promises to direct funding towards 10 of the biggest.

Welshpool-based Indigenous Construction Resource Group has been named 2016 business of the year at the Perth NAIDOC Awards.

Western Australia’s largest indigenous contractor has elected a new chairman and confirmed plans to lift both Aboriginal ownership and Aboriginal participation on its board.

SPECIAL REPORT: Indigenous entrepreneur Joanne Pellew must be getting used to racking up firsts.

SPECIAL REPORT: For indigenous entrepreneur Blaze Kwaymullina, the Pilbara is not the remote desert that many other Australians would perceive it, but rather the crucible of Aboriginal business development in this country.

SPECIAL REPORT: Indigenous contractors are revising their business plans and moving into new sectors as the mining construction boom has waned.

SPECIAL REPORT: Having taken the opportunity provided by the mining construction boom to establish his own contracting firm, Robby Mallard is now in the process of building a diversified and sustainable business.

Western Australia’s second largest Aboriginal corporation has defended a joint venture with Perth contractor Gary Johnson following claims the agreement had produced unfair profits for Mr Johnson’s business.

Perth-based Energy Made Clean has struck a partnership deal with Aboriginal corporation Eastern Guruma for the rollout of solar power stations and solar water pumps in northern Australia.

Social Ventures Australia has secured backing from three philanthropic foundations established by prominent businesspeople in Perth for the first venture in a new innovative local fund.

Mine camp operators Compass Group and Sodexo, and an Adelaide-based print business that supplies Fortescue Metals Group were among the winners in the 2016 Supply Nation supplier diversity awards.

A long-running dispute involving the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation and Fortescue Metals Group is set to continue after YAC members re-elected a bloc of directors who had recently been replaced by a court-appointed receiver.

Training and employment schemes targeting indigenous workers are slowly gaining traction.

Mining camp operator Sodexo has pledged to create 400 new jobs for indigenous Australians after becoming the latest company to join the federal government’s employment parity initiative.

The Supreme Court has appointed a receiver to take charge of the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation in the lead-up to a general meeting set for next month to settle a long-running dispute with a breakaway organisation backed by Fortescue Metals Group.

John van Bockxmeer has been named a 40under40 finalist for his commitment to creating healthier WA communities. He has also been recognised with the Inspiring Possibilities award. 

The Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, which has been mired in years of controversy, has been referred to the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations after the Supreme Court found it did not have validly appointed directors.

As five women and one male champion were honoured at this year’s Chamber of Minerals and Energy’s women in resources awards, Premier Colin Barnett declared the resources industry to have reached a mature level of growth that will likely be eclipsed by advances in the state’s other sectors.

A recent participant in Fortescue Metals Group’s VTEC program has notched up another notable achievement, having slipped into the role of ‘chief executive for a day’ as part of the miner’s unique approach to creating opportunities for Aboriginal people.

Former Kimberley Land Council CEO Wayne Bergmann has bought the National Indigenous Times from the liquidator of the company behind the newspaper.

Recent annual meetings have failed to resolve long-running divisions at two of WA’s most important Aboriginal corporations.