Governments with Northern Australia interests have committed to ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are central to the Northern Australia agenda. They see full participation as being at the heart of increasing productivity, encouraging investment and realising the full potential of the North.
In January 2020, the governments of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland, along with the Australian Government, adopted the Northern Australia Indigenous Development Accord 'to drive a coordinated approach to economic activity, innovation and business opportunities.' The Accord was developed by the Indigenous Reference Group of the Ministerial Forum on Northern Development.
It articulates six outcomes:
• Creating Jobs, fostering labour participation, entrepreneurship and business acumen for Indigenous Australians.
• Establishing knowledge management systems and producing research and development to support Indigenous commercial end-users.
• Attracting infrastructure to support Indigenous economic development.
• Facilitating access to capital and domestic and international markets for Indigenous businesses.
• Activating the economic value of land, water, sea, and cultural resource rights.
• Creating institutional arrangements that work to activate, accelerate and optimise Indigenous economic development across northern Australia.