Indigenous owned business
Supply Nation
Commonwealth target: 3.25 per cent of eligible procurements in 2026 to 2027, rising to 4 per cent by 2029 to 2030
A Just Gold publication
The economic life of LGBTIQA+ Australia.
Australia certifies Indigenous owned businesses, women owned businesses and social enterprises. No Australian body certifies LGBTIQA+ owned business. We are building the evidence on what that means, starting with the first national research report on LGBTIQA+ business ownership.
Just launched
Research framework published
The draft method is public. The advisory board will co design the final version. Read it.
Open now
Advisory board expressions of interest
Close on 6 December 2026. Volunteer and remunerated positions are available.
Census 2026
Asked for the first time
Sexual orientation and gender were asked on 11 August 2026. First results are due in June 2027.
March 2027
The research begins
Desk research and interviews, published free with its method and data.
Supplier diversity in Australia
How supplier diversity worksThree groups have a certifier. The fourth does not.
Social enterprise
Social Traders
No Commonwealth target. Members commit to spend and report it
Women owned business
WEConnect International
No Commonwealth target
LGBTIQA+ owned business
No Australian certifier
No Commonwealth target. What buyers recognise is the subject of our research
Sources: National Indigenous Australians Agency, Indigenous Procurement Policy, May 2026; Supply Nation; Social Traders; WEConnect International. Pages checked 19 September 2026. Whether Australian buyers recognise LGBTIQA+ ownership is the subject of our research and is not asserted here.
Analysis
All analysisLatest analysis
PolicyBorrowed arguments do not survive changed politics
The case for supplier diversity has leaned on the language of business benefit for twenty years. That language is now the most exposed part of the model.
ProcurementFifty one per cent is where the question starts
The Commonwealth moved its definition of an Indigenous business by one percentage point this year. The reason should interest anyone who thinks certification is about a number.
ProcurementSocial procurement is growing. The question is who it reaches.
Social Traders reported 304 million dollars in member spending last year. The number is real. So is what it leaves out.
ProcurementThe category on the form is where the work begins
Recognition makes a supplier visible. Whether anyone looks is a different question, and most diversity programs never ask it.
Corporate PrideCorporate Pride has two invoices. Only one of them has been examined.
The retreat from visible corporate Pride has been discussed at length. The part of the relationship that involves supply contracts has barely been looked at, and the reason is uncomfortable.
The State of LGBTIQA+ Business in Australia
Read the research briefFour questions nobody has answered for Australia
Do Australia’s major buyers recognise LGBTIQA+ ownership as a supplier diversity category?
The central question. The research will scan the published supplier diversity and social procurement policies of the ASX 50 and the major Commonwealth and state purchasing agencies, one document at a time, separating silence from exclusion and recognition on paper from purchasing in practice.
How many LGBTIQA+ owned businesses are there?
The 2026 Census will let owner managers be described by sexual orientation and gender for the first time, but it counts people, not enterprises. Any estimate of enterprise numbers will be presented as a range with its method shown.
How does Australia compare?
The United States and Canada have certified LGBTIQA+ owned businesses for years and place them inside national supplier diversity systems. The research will set out what those models do, what they cost and what does not transfer.
What do owners and buyers say?
Interviews with LGBTIQA+ business owners and procurement leads, on why LGBTIQA+ owned businesses do not appear in supply chains and what would have to exist for that to change.
Explainers
All explainersHow the purchasing systems work
InternationalWhat LGBTIQA+ supplier certification looks like overseas
Existing programs show how it can be done. They also show that fees, identity evidence and eligibility rules are the design, not the detail.
CertificationSupply Nation and Social Traders: what their certification establishes
Both help buyers identify suppliers. They verify different things, and the difference is the most useful lesson Australia has for anyone thinking about a third.
Social procurementWhat social procurement is, and what it is not
An ordinary purchase can carry a social commitment. The contract has to say what that commitment means, or it means nothing.
Supplier diversityHow supplier diversity works in Australia
The rules depend on who is buying. Understanding that is the difference between a certification that opens doors and one that sits in a drawer.
LGBTIQA+ Advisory Board
Help shape the research before it starts.
The board does not exist yet. We have just opened expressions of interest, and the people appointed will co design The State of LGBTIQA+ Business in Australia with us: its method, the interviews and how the findings are presented. The board will also advise Just Gold on how to increase its impact in LGBTIQA+ communities.
At least three seats are reserved for members based in Victoria. The board is funded through the Victorian Government’s LGBTIQA+ Organisational Development program. The research is funded by Just Gold. The research is national, and expressions of interest are welcome from across Australia. Five to eight members, meeting quarterly for about two hours, on twelve month terms. Expressions of interest close on 6 December 2026.
Read the position description
Find support
Browse resourcesResources in every state and territory
Business networks, supplier diversity, funders, community organisations, festivals and data, sorted by where you are.
Who is behind it
About Just GoldFunded by Just Gold. Research review from the Aurum Foundation.
Just Gold
Australia’s first certified social enterprise management consultancy and creative agency, Autistic and LGBTIQA+ owned and led. Pride in Business is part of its impact program. Just Gold funds and publishes the work, with no subscriptions to purchase and no paid placements.
Aurum Foundation
A registered charity, separate from Just Gold, that supports equity work commercial models do not fund. It will provide research review and intersectional analysis once the research begins. The organisations share a founder, so the review will be disclosed as related party review, not independent peer review.
