Welcome to Country is a not-for-profit social enterprise whose purpose is to address employment and economic development outcomes in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. As a not for profit driven by our purpose, everything we do is focused on delivering direct outcomes to Aboriginal and Torres Strait people and communities.
We are very proud to be a First Nations led and operated organisation from our Board, our CEO, Leadership Team and staff. We are on a journey of implementing a self-determination model independent from non-Indigenous funders and ensuring we have autonomy in representing our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entrepreneurs and business leaders.
We are proud that in FY23 over $1,300,000 of revenue was given back to First Nations’ entrepreneurs and at the end of March 2024, we have 204 businesses on our platform with over 250 experiences and over 1000 products.
When we set out on this journey, we were looking for ways in which the collective skills of a group of passionate Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people could be applied to amplify outcomes for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. Largely this skills set was centred in a deep knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and entrepreneurial skills.
Initially established as a project of First Australians Capital Limited (a registered charity) with financial support from Indigenous Capital Limited and a private philanthropic family the project explored ideas that would enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait entrepreneurs and business to be established and grow. The core of this was an online platform called Start Your Own Business.
Through a discovery workshop supported by Westpac, the idea was refined and eventually it was agreed that one of the greatest opportunities was within the tourism sector and that the project should refocus on building a marketplace for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experiences.
The creation of a marketplace for art and product was always an element of the Welcome to Country business model. This element was accelerated with the advent of COVID-19. The decision was made to expedite the creation of the marketplace to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts, art centres and communities with a revenue stream during this time.
https://www.welcometocountry.com/