When the Australian mining industry gathers in Perth this Wednesday, the conversation will properly focus on critical minerals, investment, decarbonisation and the geopolitics behind every major project. But there is another conversation that should be on the table because the sector has more at stake in it than any other in Australian corporate life.Mining is now Australia’s largest single deployer of Indigenous procurement spending. Supply Nation’s most recent figures put mining-sector spend with Indigenous-owned businesses at $1.65 billion in 2024-25, roughly 28 per cent of all Indigenous procurement nationally and well above construction at $1.26 billion and government at $1.53 billion.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles
Corporate Australia cracked down on greenwashing. Why not black cladding?
Are corporations willing to treat Indigenous misrepresentation as a question of integrity rather than compliance?
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