William Scott
The Western Australian Government has exceeded its target of awarding $700 million worth of contracts to Aboriginal businesses through the state’s transport infrastructure program.
The target of $700 million was set in October 2021 to improve economic and social outcomes for Aboriginal businesses and peoples by providing opportunities on major transport infrastructure projects across the State.
A five-year time frame was set to achieve the target, which was achieved nearly two years ahead of schedule.
The government also remains on track to deliver on its target of 3.5 million hours worked by Aboriginal peoples, with 2.7 million hours already achieved.
To date, $716 million of works have been undertaken by Aboriginal businesses, equating to around seven per cent of total business spend across the Transport Portfolio’s major infrastructure projects.
Around six per cent of hours worked across the state’s major infrastructure projects since October 2021 have been completed by Aboriginal peoples, directly engaged by agencies within the Transport Portfolio or through contractors.
Several major transport projects delivered across the State in recent years have helped achieve the State Government’s targets including:
- The Wilman Wadandi Highway (Bunbury Outer Ring Road Project) which has achieved $52 million in contracts with Aboriginal businesses, eleven per cent of total hours worked by Aboriginal peoples and supported 19 Aboriginal trainees and apprentices through the Yaka Dandjoo program
- The new Fitzroy River Bridge which achieved $38 million in contracts with Aboriginal businesses (23 per cent of total spend) and supported more than 260 local Aboriginal workers during construction
More than 5,000 Aboriginal businesses are included in the Transport Portfolio’s Aboriginal Business Directory (ABD) through membership with Supply Nation, which verifies that businesses in the ABD are more than 50 per cent Aboriginal owned with 446 Aboriginal businesses securing work across the Transport Portfolio since financial year 2021/22.
Western Australian Transport Minister, Rita Saffioti, said, “We set these targets because we know how critical employment and training are to improving someone’s outcomes.
“Having a job provides independence and economic empowerment and is one of the best ways of achieving improved social outcomes.
“Achieving these targets nearly two years ahead of schedule is an incredible outcome and testament to the dedication and commitment of our transport agencies to harness our record infrastructure program as a means to improve outcomes for Aboriginal peoples.
“This is also a big win for infrastructure delivery in our state, because we’re building the number of skilled workers that can help deliver projects.”
