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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-06-24 Daily Xml
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INDIGENOUS WOMEN, BUSINESS ADVICE

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (14:58): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for the Status of Women a question about business advice for Indigenous people.

Leave granted.

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: When starting a business, it can be helpful to learn from the experience of others. Will the minister advise what is being done to assist Indigenous women in business?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:58): I thank the honourable member for her question. A new business toolkit for Indigenous women has been released which is aimed at providing Aboriginal women across Australia with practical guidance and advice on being successful in business.

The business toolkit tells the stories of six successful Aboriginal businesswomen, sharing their tips and experiences on how to get started, balance family and community obligations, manage the many demands of business life, and when and where to get help. The toolkit was created following recommendations from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Gathering (NATSIWG). NATSIWG met in Canberra last month and South Australia was represented by Violet Buckskin, Pat Waria-Read and Mabel Lochowiak. All were elected at the State Aboriginal Women's Gathering for their valued contribution in providing vital community-focused advice and support to Indigenous women. The sharing of ideas helps shape the NATSIWG agenda and provides a voice for issues affecting South Australian Indigenous women such as employment, housing, safety and wellbeing, and human rights at a national level.

Many Indigenous women live in rural and remote areas and often these areas have less access to essential business services such as postal, phone and banking services. The toolkit addresses these issues with a number of useful fact sheets covering business planning to exporting goods and provides access to a range of useful local resources.

Being your own boss can offer greater flexibility for women to combine family, culture and business. A further exciting development for Indigenous women's leadership is the recent appointment of Megan Davis to the United Nations Indigenous Advisory Group. Megan will join the United Nations Indigenous Advisory Group in 2011 after being recommended for the position by the Rudd government—the now Gillard government, I am pleased to say. An international human rights lawyer from Queensland, Megan is the first Australian Indigenous woman to be elected to a United Nations body. The United Nations' Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues advises on issues including economic and social development, culture, health and human rights.

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