A travelling snake show, a crocodile farm and a machinery hire firm.
These are just some of the diverse family businesses Torres Strait Islander Leah Armstrong remembers growing up with among her people in the Queensland town of Mackay.
Today, as chair of the Federal Government-endorsed Supply Nation, Armstrong has taken her early passion for enterprise and used it to work with thousands of Indigenous businesses to tap into the mainstream Australian economy as suppliers of products and services.
“We are trying to change the mindset that Indigenous business is just about arts and culture,” she says. “There are Indigenous businesses in all spheres of industry.
“Supplier diversity is about opening the doors for Indigenous business to give them the opportunity to win those tenders and contracts.”
Armstrong is the chair of Supply Nation, a team of specialists across Australia who work with businesses to embed diversity into their supply chains to help build a prosperous Indigenous business sector.
While she may not be exhibiting venomous snakes like her showman grandfather once did, Armstrong’s group represents a wide range of Indigenous business, from cutting edge multimedia to security and catering firms.
Growing up, Armstrong was inspired by her family’s activity in Mackay’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island groups, helping to offer housing, health and legal services to the local Indigenous community.
And so, after first starting work in her stepfather’s picture framing shop, she moved to Newcastle in 1991 to begin a new life in the community sector.
It was through her work with the Awabakal Newcastle Aboriginal Cooperative that the budding entrepreneur first identified her vision of creating sustainable Indigenous business as the “key to breaking the cycle of disadvantage”.
“Entrepreneurial development is something I’ve grown up around,” she says. “I believe in economic development, and sustainability is key for the Indigenous community and individuals.
“We saw the gap that needed to be filled was around sustainable employment and commercially viable business that would generate income. It was trying to break that cycle of welfare and government dependency.”
To this end, in 1992 Armstrong co-founded Yarnteen Ltd, a successful Indigenous business and social enterprise that she grew over two decades to operate ventures that include bulk warehousing, a car wash, a building company and a registered training organisation.
The idea for Indigenous supplier diversity was reported in the 2008 inquiry by The Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs’ that focused on the development of Indigenous enterprises in Australia.
Taking initial inspiration and advice from the successful supplier diversity movement in the US, Armstrong helped set up the Australian Indigenous Minority Supply Council in 2009, now trading as Supply Nation.
Supply Nation certifies Indigenous-owned businesses based on criteria that specify that at least 51% of the shareholders and the majority of the board as well as the corporate head need to be Indigenous.
Armstrong says Australia is fortunate that its major corporations understand the movement and are committed to it through Reconciliation Action Plans – evident in the work of Supply Nation member companies like National Australia Bank (NAB).
“NAB is a founding member of Supply Nation and they commit to a target for procurement from certified Indigenous suppliers,” she says. “NAB has a real ambition around shared value, to benefit both the company and the Indigenous business community.
“I believe the banking sector understands that there is a growing market out there to engage with and build relationships with - and NAB has been at the forefront of that.”
Armstrong says supplier diversity brings a greater range of ideas to the table to foster greater innovation, and helps grow the business customer base and Indigenous-employment as well.
“What gets me up in the morning are stories about Indigenous success,” she says. “When I hear about and see Indigenous business excelling I think we need to highlight more of this Indigenous success and achievement.
“It’s important to be aware of, and acknowledge, disadvantage - but that’s what always gets pushed out about Indigenous Australia. It’s important for our younger generations to break that mindset.”
Armstrong herself has been recognised with a number of major business leadership awards and holds several board positions, including with Career Trackers, a group which is opening up pathways for Indigenous university students to internships and jobs at places like NAB.
She is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council, chairs the Aboriginal Housing Office NSW and has held previous positions with Reconciliation Australia and Indigenous Business Australia.
She attributes her success to an open and honest approach in the way she goes about business, together with the humility she says is part of her cultural background.
With more than 12,000 Indigenous businesses nationally ranging from “mum and dad” operations to multi-million dollar ventures, Armstrong says the message for business is they should think more broadly about their procurement.
“There can be an Indigenous supplier for everything from pens and paper to telecommunications and solar energy,” she says. “There is potentially an Indigenous-owned business that can provide that service or product.”
