Closing the Gap in Indigenous Disadvantage

The Business Council of Australia (BCA) acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land and community. We pay our respect to them and their cultures, and to the elders both past and present.

The BCA has identified engagement with Indigenous Australians as a policy priority out of the belief that all Australians should be able to benefit from, and contribute to, our nation’s prosperity.

The BCA Indigenous Engagement Task Force, comprising BCA member CEOs, was established in 2008 to guide policy development in this area.

Representatives of BCA member companies have come together to form a network to discuss and share experiences and case studies of successful involvement. A list of companies represented in the BCA Business–Indigenous Network is here.

Some of the organisations BCA member companies are involved with and gain guidance from can be viewed here.

Publications released by the BCA have included:

• The launch of research quantifying the economic impact of closing the gap in the Goulburn Valley in Victoria
  
• A 2010 report on what BCA member companies are doing to help close the gap
• A 2011 report on how BCA member companies are working to close the gap

BCA members are committed to achieving better Indigenous employment opportunities now and into the future.

BCA member Ross Love (Managing Partner, Australia and New Zealand, The Boston Consulting Group) meets pupils during the Indigenous Enterprise Partnerships inaugural executive leadership visit to the East Kimberley, July 2010. Photo courtesy Natika Hawes-Wright Photography.