A new publicly-accessible online resource is making it easier to find and engage with Northern Territory Aboriginal businesses as part of a move towards inclusivity and buying local.

Developed by Power and Water Corporation and the Industry Capability Network (ICN) of the Northern Territory, the NT Aboriginal Content Finder (link: https://ntacf.icn.org.au) is an interactive map which draws on ICN NT’s database.

Power and Water and ICN NT will be hosting a networking session on Thursday, 26 September from 4.30pm at ICN NT’s Parap offices for Aboriginal businesses and other businesses who engage with Power and Water.

The map will enable easy searching of Aboriginal business and non-Aboriginal business that have a high number of Aboriginal employees, in line with Power and Water’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).

“As part of our RAP, one of the actions identified was to investigate opportunities to incorporate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander supplier diversity within our organisation,” Power and Water Chief Procurement Officer Justin McKenzie said.

“The Aboriginal Content Finder is the result of many years of work with ICN NT, and we are proud to make this resource available to help support local Aboriginal businesses.”

Every year, Power and Water spends around $600 million on goods, works and services, and the same amount on capital expenditure and infrastructure.

Of this total expenditure, almost 90 per cent goes to Northern Territory businesses.

In the 2018/19 financial year, Power and Water committed to $14.6 million of contracts with local Aboriginal businesses. An additional $11.8 million in low value off-contract was also spent.

“Power and Water Corporation’s Northern Territory spend has a major impact on our economy and they are to be commended for their commitment to grow Aboriginal participation in the workforce,” ICN NT chief executive officer Kevin Peters said.

“As a partner in the Aboriginal Content Finder initiative, ICN NT is also pleased to be able to promote Aboriginal business capability to enable their inclusion on tender opportunities.”

As of mid-September, about 160 businesses were available to view in the system.

For more information about the networking event or to register, click here.

Ends

For further comment from a Power and Water spokesperson, please contact the Media Unit on 0401 117 599.

For further comment from an ICN NT spokesperson, please contact Kevin Peters 08 8922 9422 or 0417 822 882 kevin.peters@icnnt.org.au

About ICN

Industry Capability Network (ICN) is a business network that introduces Australian and New Zealand companies to projects large and small.

We offer a new business source for suppliers and a sophisticated search service for project managers.

ICN is an independent organisation financially supported by Australian, state and territory governments. Since it started more than 30 years ago, ICN has helped local suppliers find $30 billion worth of contracts.

See more at www.icn.org.au

About Power and Water

Power and Water transmits and distributes electricity, and provides water and sewerage services, across the Northern Territory.

Power and Water provides water and wastewater services to urban and remote customers. We manage ground and surface water supplies, and wastewater treatment plants as well as water and sewerage pipelines.

In most major centres, we distribute electricity through the power networks we maintain, from the wires to the meters. Electricity, water and sewerage services are provided in 72 remote communities throughout the Northern Territory.

In addition, our gas unit supplies gas to electricity generators and other major gas users.

See more at powerwater.com.au