The AMP Foundation recently celebrated its partnership with First Australians Capital at an event featuring the non-profit’s CEO Jocelyn King, who spoke about the long history of Indigenous enterprise. 

by Jocelyn King

When I went to school, we were taught that Australian history began on the 26th January, 1788. Nothing was mentioned about the 60,000-plus years of Aboriginal history.

You certainly never heard of Aboriginal ‘business people’. The term ‘walkabout’ was associated with unreliability, when in fact, it referred to a journey taken with great purpose. Far from being a simple hunter-gatherer society, we had a sophisticated trading system across this continent and beyond. What we didn’t have was a monetary system. 

In Aboriginal culture, everyone had a role to play in business and the rules were taught through stories and maintained through lore - a system based on values rather than legislation and reinforced by the community. The first value – respect – began with Mother Earth or Gunni thukun. We were taught that if you look after Country, Country would look after you. Take what you need and use everything you take.

"Make no bones about it: we were very good at sustainable business"

Our middens tell a story of trade. These piles of shells and other food remains were not just waste dumps, but sustainability tools. If someone travelling through Country looked at the top layer and saw oyster shells, they wouldn’t harvest oysters for dinner. They would choose fish or crabs to help oysters regrow.  

We also had a history of aquaculture. The Brewarrina fish traps (Baiame's Ngunnhu) - an elaborate network of rock weirs and pools - are the oldest man-made structure on earth. Constructed 35,000 years ago, they outdate Stonehenge, the Giza Pyramids and the Great Wall of China by some 30 millenia.

This ingenious enterprise, capable of growing man-sized cod, was operated by the local community to feed people across the Western Plains of New South Wales. Each element of the process operated around natural cycles that were dictated by astronomical patterns. The traps followed natural water flows so, at certain times, key stones could be put in place to hold large fish and let smaller ones escape.  

We had a history of sustainable mining, too. Newcastle is home to a rare white chert – a rock that, due to its tiny quartz particles, was prized for making spear tips. It was mined by the Awabakal people and traded right across to the Bardi mob in the Kimberley in WA.

Our trading didn’t stop domestically. Yolngu people from Arnhem Land traded with Makassan fisherman from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi for hundreds of years, long before the British arrived. Some even travelled across South-East Asia on Makassan vessels.

With the arrival of the First Fleet, Aboriginal people continued to trade. In exchange for sharing the bounty of this amazing country - including seafood with settlers - they felt entitled to kill a sheep or cow for food from time to time. Unfortunately, the settlers felt differently and the age of exclusion began.

In a contemporary sense, I am a third-generation Aboriginal business owner. My great-grandfather, a Bundjalung man, began working on the railways for an Aboriginal company, Smiths’ General Contractors. In fact, much of our railway network was built by men like him. My grandfather apprenticed as a bricklayer and ran a business, and my dad went on to own a concrete contracting business.

Today, as CEO of First Australians Capital (FAC), I build on the many strengths of Australia’s enterprising first peoples, whose lore is enormously valuable to Australia as we grapple with complex social and environmental challenges.

FAC provides business support and access to capital for Aboriginal people starting and growing enterprises. And thanks to our supporters, such as the AMP Foundation, we are already helping Indigenous people to build a new economy for all Australians – from gubinge (Kadadu plum) growers (pictured in feature image) to commercial fisheries and engineering firms.

To find out more about how we are linking 60,000 plus years of Indigenous business experience with the modern marketplace, visit the FAC website.  

Jocelyn King was raised on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation and now lives in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, where she is actively involved in Wollombi lore.

The AMP Foundation is proud to be a founding partner of First Australians Capital.