Indigenous small enterprise development : implications for policy

There are a number of important ways in which economic independence for Indigenous Australians can be enhanced and the economic development of their communities promoted. An important avenue will lie in the establishment of small business enterprises. The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody made valuable proposals about the means by which government policies and programs might be structured to maximise the opportunities for improving the economic situation of Indigenous people. This included the identification of a number of small business sectors seen to be important in promoting Indigenous economic development. Many of these proposals have remained dormant. Within this context an initial requirement is for a better understanding of the main determinants of Indigenous labour force behaviour at the local level. A main purpose of this paper therefore is to investigate, using Population Census data, the Indigenous labour force outcomes of a number of small, relatively remote regions within the Northern Territory of Australia.