UTS and Indigenous Business Australia partner to quantify the Indigenous pay gap

The University of Technology Sydney’s Centre for Indigenous People and Work (CIPW) and Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) have announced a new research partnership to calculate and analyse the pay gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Australia.

This Indigenous led initiative seeks to shape national dialogue around economic equality and the Indigenous economy and build the evidence base required for systemic reform in employment, economic policy and Indigenous wages.

At its core, the research recognises that Indigenous wages are a critical driver of both the Indigenous economy and Australia’s broader economy, supporting household incomes, community wellbeing, and national productivity.

The partnership will also highlight the demographic dividend of a growing, increasingly educated First Nations workforce, and the role that fair pay and secure employment play in boosting workforce participation, productivity and economic growth across Australia.

While Indigenous owned and operated businesses are an essential and growing part of the Indigenous economy, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people contribute economically through their work as employees across mainstream industries and workplaces – and have always sought to do so despite active societal and market exclusion.

Ensuring fair pay and secure employment conditions in these workplaces is therefore central to strengthening economic participation, closing income disparities, and supporting long term prosperity.