A new program has launched to help Victorian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business owners to accelerate the growth of their businesses.
The accelerator program, called Meereeng 50, is a collaborative project led by Kinaway Chamber of Commerce Victoria Ltd, PwC's Indigenous Consulting and the University of Melbourne. They are working together with some of Australia’s largest companies, including Lendlease, National Australia Bank and Telstra, as well as IBA and the Victorian State Government, to deliver an accelerator program for mature businesses aspiring to develop relationships with major companies.
As Co-CEO of PIC Jodie Sizer said, 'Our mob are true entrepreneurs. We just need to help them get access to those opportunities.'
Kinaway General Manager, Paul Kruspe, sees Meereeng 50 as a significant step forward for Victorian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses. He said, 'We know that one of the barriers to Aboriginal businesses getting contract opportunities is a lack of confidence to connect with key decision makers. By bringing suppliers and corporates together, Meereeng 50 will help to break down this initial hurdle.'
The pilot program will initially include up to 10 Victorian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander businesses, with the intention to roll out the developed program nationally.
For more information, visit meereeng50.com.au
Excerpt from an article written by Paige Taylor titled, 'More Indigenous move into home ownership group', and published in The Australian on 11 September 2019.
More Indigenous Australians than ever are homeowners, fewer live in overcrowded accommodation and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who rent are slowly shifting away from social housing in favour of private properties.
Figures to be published on Wednesday by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show almost two in five Indigenous Australians were homeowners at the last census — of those, 12 per cent owned their home outright and 26 per cent had a mortgage.
The rate of home ownership among Indigenous Australians has gradually increased since 2006, while the home ownership rate among non-Indigenous Australians has decreased slightly over the same period.
In 2006, 34 per cent of Indigenous Australians owned their home or were paying it off.
By 2011 that figure had climbed to 36 per cent and at the 2016 census, 38 per cent of Indigenous Australians either owned their homes outright or were paying off a mortgage.
In contrast, the percentage of non-Indigenous Australians who either owned their home or were paying it off declined from 68 per cent in 2006 to 66 per cent in 2016.
Dagoman-Wardaman man and chairman of Indigenous Business Australia Eddie Fry oversees a home loan program that is helping increasing numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people into home ownership.
IBA approved more than $1bn in home loans to Indigenous Australians over the past five years.
In 2014-15, IBA approved 517 home loans to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In 2017-18, the number of home loans approved by IBA was a record 917.
“Home ownership has an opportunity to formulate the next wave of transformative success for indigenous people,” Mr Fry said.
“Home ownership is a key pillar on the journey to economic independence for indigenous Australians, providing not only stable housing but also an anchor from which to build an asset base for current and future generations and equity for other investment and business opportunities.”
Home ownership is a key pillar of economic independence. It generates not just an asset that can be handed down to future generations, but also better health, education and self-esteem for Indigenous Australians. Through IBA's solutions, our customers build a credit history over time and create equity in a home.
At a time when much of the financial services industry is coming to terms with the changes they need to make to deliver on customer and community expectations, IBA’s success stories on Indigenous home ownership shine a positive light on financial self-management and economic self-sufficiency for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
Check out the full article on LinkedIn.
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