Supply Nation features in the PM's Closing the Gap speech

9 February 2011

Today, the Prime Minister Julia Gillard addressed Parliament, to report on the progress of the Closing the Gap agenda, three years on from the Apology to the Stolen Generation.

The Prime Minister acknowledged the partnerships between AIMSC’s members and certified suppliers which have contributed to closing the gap on Indigenous Australian’s economic participation.

The Prime Minister noted, “Since starting in September 2009, the Australian Indigenous Minority Supplier Council (AIMSC) has generated over $4 million in contracts and nearly $3 million in transactions between its members and certified suppliers. The Council links corporate and government purchasers with certified Indigenous suppliers of goods and services. Demand is growing, not only for Indigenous workers, but for Indigenous business as well.”

AIMSC is committed to working with the Australian Government to continue to increase Indigenous Australian’s economic participation through procurement by assisting in the implementation of the Indigenous Opportunities Policy.

The AIMSC team is committed to the contribution we, along with our stakeholders can make to closing the gap through supplier diversity, creating and growing economic development through business.  The team is, every day, inspired by the passion and activities of our stakeholders in both Indigenous business and our member organisations.  The progress being made to create economic opportunities for the current and future generations through empowering Indigenous people to own, operate and grow their own businesses is encouraging and we look forward to seeing significant growth in the coming years. 

Since its launch in October 2009 AIMSC has reported $2.9m worth of transactions and $4.4m worth of contracts between AIMSC members and certified suppliers.  Through tracking the employment figures of the Indigenous businesses certified with AIMSC we have also identified a consistent 72% Indigenous employment rate across all the businesses.  AIMSC currently has 55 members and 67 certified suppliers. 

AIMSC’s members and suppliers working in partnership to create economic prosperity for all exemplifies the sentiment in the Prime Minister’s speech.

The full transcript of the speech can be viewed at: www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/pms-closing-the-gap-speech-on-indigenous-australia-in-full/story-fn59niix-1226002750396