First Australians Business (FAB) is a national one to one mentoring program for Indigenous business people. FAB assists Indigenous people to initiate, develop and maintain economically viable and culturally appropriate businesses through the provision of knowledge, expertise and support from corporate Australia . FAB is proudly sponsored by the Commonwealth Government through Indigenous Business Australia (IBA). In addition FAB continues to receive on going support from The Body Shop. FAB is a not for profit organisation. Mission
First Australians Business (FAB) is committed to promoting and extending the business management skills and confidence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business people. FAB provides support to enhance the opportunities of young Indigenous Australians by building long term partnerships with Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians within Government and corporate Australia. Aims
To enhance the economic development opportunities for Indigenous people.
To support the growth of small businesses operated by Indigenous people.
To develop networks which will assist in the economic development of Indigenous people.
To promote positive images of Indigenous businesses.
To involve corporate Australia in Indigenous businesses. History
For many years the Commonwealth Government in conjunction with The Body Shop and the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) ran a series of Enterprise Development Workshops (EDW) for young Indigenous business people. Through the success of these workshops there was a need to develop a follow up program which would provide on going support for the participants after completing the workshops. FAB was formed in Melbourne in June 1998 to provide participants from the EDW with a one to one mentoring service. FAB was registered as a pilot program in 1999. In January 2002 FAB relocated its office to Brisbane , as many of the relationships developed by FAB during its pilot stage were based in the northern regions of Australia . Currently FAB recognises the pool of talent which exists amongst Indigenous people. The program aims to assist these people to gain genuine economic and financial independence. FAB also seeks to generate knowledge and commitment from the private sector towards generating skills, development, business and employment opportunities
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