Blak Business in the Grey Literature

Australia’s Indigenous (Blak) business sector has grown substantially. Despite this, the Australian public knows little about Indigenous businesses, and what is known is largely drawn from the grey literature, such as news media and magazine articles. This research explored how Indigenous businesses are represented in the grey literature, as such representations are critical to attracting investors and customers. Led by Aboriginal researchers using an Indigenist theoretical lens, a systematic content analysis interrogated 544 articles published over 16 years from 2006 to 2022. Manual thematic analysis revealed several troubling trends, including persistent deficit perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses, that Indigenous authors and voices were largely absent, and the meagre frequency of articles in many Australian news media outlets. These novel findings shed light on prevailing biases in the grey literature that hinder Indigenous business success, thwarting social justice and progress towards the national Closing the Gap (2020) agenda.