The Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce hosted an Indigenous business briefing in partnership with KPMG and Message Stick Group in Canberra on 27 March 2018.

The Federal Government’s Indigenous Procurement Policy sets mandatory procurement targets for Indigenous business engagement to stimulate Indigenous economic development and business growth. A panel of leading experts discussed how government agencies, business, and other organisations can most effectively engage with the Indigenous Procurement Policy.

SPEAKERS

Adam Goodes
Chief Executive Officer
Indigenous Defence Consortium

Adam Goodes and the team at the Indigenous Defence Consortium work closely with federal and state government, captains of corporate industry, and prime contractors to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people achieve economic independence. After a professional football career spanning more than 16 years, Adam was named 2014 Australian of the Year as recognition for empowering the next generation of Indigenous role models and as an advocate for the fight against racism.

Shelley Reys AO
Chief Executive Officer, Arrilla Consulting
Partner, KPMG Arrilla Indigenous Services

Shelley Reys, a Djirribul woman, is a respected Indigenous specialist, strategist, and service provider with over 25 years in business, working in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and reconciliation space. She was the inaugural Co-Chair of Reconciliation Australia, was named the Australian Financial Review’s ‘100 Women of Influence’, and was awarded the Order of Australia for her work in the Indigenous and government sectors, and for her leadership across the corporate sector. Her vision is “to create a culturally competent Australia, one workplace at a time”.

Michael McLeod
Chief Executive Officer
Message Stick Group

Michael McLeod’s goal is to build a national Aboriginal telecommunications business that is relevant and significant to remote Aboriginal communities, who remain the most disadvantaged telecommunications users in Australia. He started an Indigenous internet service provider business in 1996, having worked previously in the health sector and as an artist.

Jason Timor
Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Supply Nation

Jason Timor previously headed the Qantas Indigenous Engagement Strategy, including an Indigenous internship program, a school-based traineeship initiative, the first corporate in-house online cultural competency training, and managed Qantas’ Indigenous partnership portfolio. He has consulted to firms including AMP, Arnotts, KPMG, Sydney Water, and Westfield. Supply Nation is a not-for-profit organisation focused on building the Indigenous business sector. Supply Nation has 222 corporate and government members and over 300 certified Indigenous suppliers providing wealth creation to Indigenous business owners.

MODERATOR

Samantha Maiden
Political Reporter
Sky Business News Australia

Samantha Maiden was previously political editor for News Corporation newspapers including The Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Herald-Sun, and Sunday Mail. She has been based in Canberra as a political correspondent since 1998.