Decolonising indigenous social impact research using community-based methods

Indigenous procurement policies are utilised in countries with large Indigenous populations to encourage the construction sector to provide new training and employment opportunities for Indigenous people who suffer from economic and social disadvantage. However, the success of these policies is often distorted by the failure of social impact assessments to account for culturally-specific perceptions of social value held by Indigenous communities. This not only distorts the allocation of funds to Indigenous communities but represents another form of marginalisation and loss of voice for the communities these policies are meant to help. Drawing on contextual discourse into the history of Indigenous research, this methodological paper shows how theories of community-based research (CBR) are a valuable tool to reconceptualise approaches to measuring Indigenous social value in an Indigenous social procurement policy context. Working in partnership with the peak body for Aboriginal business in New South Wales, the results from five culturally appropriate focus groups (yarning discussion groups), with fifty Indigenous business owners from several industries, show that social impact research in Indigenous contexts must respect Indigenous people and knowledges and prioritise Indigenous people’s experiences of Indigenous social procurement, rather than focusing on simplistic policy targets. It is concluded that the approach developed here can be operationalised in the field to better understand the nature of Indigenous social value and the impact created by Indigenous procurement policies in Australia and other countries with disadvantaged Indigenous populations. This paper has significant potential to inform future social impact research globally, on how academia can engage with the communities who social procurement is targeted at helping.