Female Indigenous entrepreneurship in remote communities in northern Australia

Cecil A L

doi:10.22610/imbr.v6i6.1131

Abstract

Little is known about Australian Indigenous female entrepreneurship. Misconceptions typifying Australian Indigenous businesses are community enterprises are encumbered by research limitations, generalisations and stereotyping; the material is seldom voiced by Australian Indigenous people; and few sources detail the challenges for grass roots female Indigenous entrepreneurs in remote Australian Aboriginal communities that maintain patriarchal cultures. In this paper is described how 21 Indigenous female entrepreneurs in a remote region of northern Australia have tailored their businesses to comply with the regulatory and statutory framework of the dominant society while preserving sensitivity to the traditional cultural norms, rules, and obligations. The data were independently corroborated by Indigenous and non Indigenous men of recognised standing in the region. These empirical observations provide foundation for better informed judgements about the business environment in remote regions of Australia, which is fundamental when developing policies for delivering sustainable female Indigenous small businesses.

Highlights

During the past 15 years Australian Indigenous female entrepreneurship has disturbingly attracted scant momentum
The relatively low traction is disquieting given the recognised importance of entrepreneurship in the Australian marketing economy (Minifie, 2014; Wood, 2011), the continuing voiced commitment of the Australian Commonwealth Government to develop Indigenous business programmes (Australian Government, 2007; 2010; IOP, 2011), the championing of successive Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) contributions (1998; 2001; 2012) to raise the profile of economic activities of female minorities in Australia, and a limited body of literature dealing with Indigenous women in family business (AWCCI, 2012; McDonnell, 1999; Sonfield & Lussier, 2009)
Reinvigoration of the customary Indigenous lifestyle of remote communities in the Northern Territory (NT) embraces wildlife harvesting, attending Indigenous cultural/religious events to learn the unwritten laws of the clans, and these activities are unlikely to be practiced in mainstream Australian small business

Summary

Introduction

During the past 15 years Australian Indigenous female entrepreneurship has disturbingly attracted scant momentum. Female Indigenous entrepreneurship lacks resonance within the propensity of Australian small business. In spite of the growing geographic and sector spread of Australian Indigenous micro enterprises the Indigenous participation in the Australian mainstream economy is relatively low (Australian Government, 2009; Foley, 2006; Furneaux & Brown, 2008), the ratio of Australian Indigenous to non Indigenous self employment is about 0.3 (Hunter, 2012), and a lack of gender aggregation shows the field of study about female Indigenous owned business remains under developed. With few exceptions much of the literature reports Australian Indigenous entrepreneurial activity in the more popular and research accessible sites to review “... the vastly different experiences of the Indigenous Australian compared to their non –indigenous counterparts” (Wood & Davidson, 2011:312)

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Discussion

Conclusion