Business must lift its game for first peoples

LIKE many migrants, when I moved to this country 15 years ago I was made to feel very welcome in the Australian community. Isn't it a pity that many of the first Australians still don't experience that same welcome?

Many Australians would be shocked that the Constitution does not recognise indigenous Australians, and specifically retains the possibility of discrimination against people of a specific race. This failure to include indigenous Australians in the founding document of the nation has very tangible real-world consequences.

The message it sends is that it's acceptable to tolerate the disadvantage faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, to tolerate the vast gaps in living standards, life expectancy, education, health and employment.

As an Australian citizen, and one who is proud to call Australia home, I don't think that is acceptable.

On a positive note, both political parties are committed to closing the gap and abolishing the sense of exclusion that some of our first peoples feel. To my mind, there are two parts to closing the gap. The first is social inclusion - what I think of as emotional inclusion. The second is economic inclusion, or economic empowerment.

The apology to the Stolen Generations was an important symbolic act of social inclusion that for many Australians provided a much-needed emotional catharsis and the opportunity to start the healing. Similarly, righting the historical wrong that has seen indigenous Australians wilfully left out of the Constitution will be a powerful step towards true inclusion.

But constitutional recognition goes well beyond symbolism. It's impossible to divorce the need for just and fair recognition from the confidence to take control of one's circumstances and channel one's efforts in a positive direction. If passed, the referendum has the potential to change the mindset of a generation of young indigenous people, making them more receptive to opportunities for empowerment, and helping spark the next generation of indigenous leaders.

Broader community recognition of indigenous people - their status as the first Australians, their contribution to the community, and their enormous potential - is a prerequisite for empowerment. Recognition, both past and present, has the potential to instil the confidence needed for indigenous communities to take control of their future.

But confidence and respect are not enough. We need to ensure indigenous Australians are economically empowered, not just dependent on government support.

And this is where the business community needs to continue to do more as the engine of sustainable employment and thus higher living standards. And when businesses support indigenous enterprises, the effect is even more powerful and immediate.

At Westpac, for example, we are increasing employment of indigenous Australians, sourcing from indigenous suppliers, and providing responsive banking services to indigenous businesses and communities.

Today marks the launch of an initiative to change the way indigenous policy is formulated and implemented, to give indigenous communities greater control over their destinies. The Empowered Communities Group, led by Noel Pearson, brings together 25 leaders from eight indigenous communities.

The Empowered Communities approach asks business for help that goes beyond money to something far more valuable: time.

Specifically, Empowered Communities wants business to build capability within indigenous communities, enabling them to build strong, community-based businesses, which will drive sustainable local employment. As part of this, Empowered Communities will ask companies to send secondees with needed skills sets into communities.

Westpac has been doing this successfully for more than 12 years. Under the auspices of Jawun, which Westpac helped found, we have seconded nearly 600 of our people into indigenous communities, contributing over 76 work years to indigenous organisations, families, individuals and local enterprises.

These secondments are not simply a way for Westpac and other companies to fulfil their responsibilities to the community, they make the company stronger - because when our people work in indigenous communities, they invariably return with a broader world view, more cultural awareness and sensitivity, and greater problem-solving and negotiating skills.

Empowering indigenous communities provides the quintessential "win-win".

The communities increase their ability to sustain social inclusion and economic prosperity, and to create meaningful and lasting solutions to their individual challenges.

Corporate Australia gains through the development of more thriving enterprises, more sustainable consumer demand, a larger potential pool of employees, and the development of skills among their own staff.

Government gains through better targeting its limited resources, and an improved confidence that comes from making a difference on issues that until now often seemed intractable.

And Australia gains through improved social cohesion, greater economic growth, and the pride that will come from knowing we are a nation that truly values the inclusion, full participation and aspirations of all of our people.

We find ourselves at a unique moment in history, when the vast majority of Australians are united in our desire to think differently in order to close the gap for indigenous Australians. We must seize this moment by recognising that success requires both emotional and economic inclusion for indigenous Australians.

Gail Kelly is the chief executive of Westpac.