Aboriginal Businesses Highlight Challenges in Securing Capital and Infrastructure

Published on September 3, 2024

Entrepreneurs from the Aboriginal community face significant challenges in scaling their operations, mainly due to a lack of intergenerational wealth, which makes securing loans for essential infrastructure difficult. Representatives highlighted this during the Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs session held in Perth on Sept. 2. Robert Taylor, CEO of the Western Australian Indigenous Tourism Operators Council (WAITOC), emphasised that 98 percent of Aboriginal businesses are small operators without the financial networks necessary to overcome barriers to growth. He stated, “It’s very difficult to get a loan because they don’t have that [wealth] behind them. Getting a grant for something as small as a 58-seat bus is a lot of money.”...

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