Australia’s Indigenous-owned and operated businesses generate more than A$16 billion in annual revenue and employ more than 116,000 people. The sector is also growing faster than the rest of the economy yet Indigenous Australians are significantly underrepresented in the accounting profession, with just 0.45% of Australian members compared with about 3.8% of the general population.

“If we can’t manage our own money, how can we manage our future?” asks Josh Duke FCA, a proud Dunghutti man and chair of CA ANZ’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Member Panel. “Increasing First Nations representation in the accounting profession is an important step towards achieving economic self-determination. I believe this will help close the gap in life outcomes between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians.”

Amie Prentice FCA, a descendant of the Karajarri people and one of the panel’s founding members, sees a career in accounting as a meaningful option for many Indigenous people.

“Young Australians in general have a growing interest in using business as a tool for social change,” she says. “Overlay that with Indigenous people’s desire to support their families and communities and it’s easy to see how the profession could be a good fit.”

Attracting more young people

In a bid to attract more young people from every background, CA ANZ is working hard to change the outdated perception of accounting as repetitive and desk bound. The multimedia Make Epic Things Happen campaign and online hub show how accounting can lead to exciting and impactful careers in areas such as sport, sustainability, entertainment and game development. A movie short, The Accountants: A New Generation Making Epic Things Happen, was even shown ahead of all Deadpool screenings in Australia and New Zealand. 

However, the challenge remains that the 15.4% of First Nations people who live in remote or very remote areas across Australia are hard to reach and another 19% live in outer regional areas. For example, in terms of the film trailer, very limited access to cinemas means that young people must often rely on mobile projection units or venues like town halls or cultural centres that occasionally screen films. 

“Many of the strategies that work really well along the eastern seaboard won’t work for remote Indigenous communities,” says Prentice. “Here, very few schools offer accounting as a subject and I'm not even sure these kids hear that accounting is an appropriate or a possible pathway for them. To make sure all Indigenous people are fairly considered and represented, I think we need to design strategies to support alternate pathways into accounting with these barriers in mind.”

Seeking to overcome such barriers, in 2025 CA ANZ introduced more accessible pathways to the CA Program. The first is CA Fundamentals: a one-year earn-while-you-learn program that provides an opportunity for people who have graduated high school and have little work experience to be mentored by an employer and gain an entry-level understanding of what’s required to be a chartered accountant. Upon successful completion, candidates can progress to CA Foundations, which is normally undertaken by people with a university degree in a non-accounting or finance discipline, or a TAFE polytechnic qualification. 

Although available since 2015, CA Foundations has been streamlined in 2025 to make it more relevant, flexible, accessible and affordable – supporting a broader range of people to reach the start line of the CA Program, explains Michelle Ryan, CA ANZ general manager, education content and strategy. “These changes are particularly significant for Indigenous communities, who have historically faced systemic barriers to accessing professional education,” she says. “By removing the requirement for prior tertiary study, embedding employer mentorship, and offering financial and recruitment support through pilot partnerships, CA Fundamentals opens a culturally responsive and inclusive entry point into the profession.”

Breaking down barriers

Duke would also like to see earlier exposure to accounting careers and more Indigenous role models.

“If we are to break down barriers and clarify career pathways, programs like pre-accounting courses, mentoring and scholarships tailored for Indigenous students are essential,” he says. “We need stronger engagement across the professional life cycle, from high schools and universities to industry, including partnerships with Indigenous organisations.”

The historical and structural causes that limited access to quality education and professional networks for Indigenous people until little more than 50 years ago continues to exert its influence. 

“For example, western accounting values often differ from Indigenous perspectives, which can make the profession feel culturally distant,” says Duke. “And, in broad terms, lack of access to resources, financial support and professional networks still remain a barrier to entry.”

Prentice points out that Indigenous tertiary students will often be removed from their entire support network and inserted into a very different model of living.

“Whether you’re in Darwin or Sydney, this can be really isolating because there are so few of us,” she says. “As a panel, we would really like to build a network that connects up-and-coming Indigenous professionals with CAs who have walked the same path.”

Continuing achievement

Duke is proud of what the panel has achieved since being established in 2021.

“Scholarships are available yearly through CA ANZ and we are long-term supporters of the pre-enablement programs at Charles Darwin University,” says Duke. “We work with the CA ANZ advocacy team on their submissions to government, help the marketing team engage the mob and support CA ANZ on their Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) commitments. CA ANZ is also capturing the number of Indigenous chartered accountants through the membership renewal process.”

CA ANZ was a pinnacle sponsor of Te Hui Taketake a Te Puna Tahua Toa – a global Indigenous business summit held in Rotorua, New Zealand, in July 2024, where Indigenous members from Australia and Aotearoa were keynote speakers and keen participants alongside First Nations representatives from the US and Canada.

“We have also embedded our panel in the CA ANZ complex governance structures, which has led to more structured support with a clear strategy and work plan,” says Duke.

CA ANZ has reinforced its commitment to progressing Indigenous representation in the profession by highlighting increased participation from First Nations and Māori communities across Australia and New Zealand as a key focus over the next five years in its 2026–2030 strategy. 

Peter Vial FCA, CA ANZ group executive New Zealand and the Pacific, says: “This is imperative for CA ANZ. It is both the right thing to do and the commercially sensible approach, given the significance and value of the First Nations and Māori economies, which are growing rapidly and in need of Indigenous talent to fuel them.”

Looking forward

Duke is hoping for more visibility at a grassroots level. 

“I’d love to see a CA ANZ tent at the Koori Knockout,” says Duke. “This has been described as a modern-day corroboree with more than 60,000 Indigenous attendees each year. It’s also important for us to continue educating and gently challenging deficit narratives, and embedding Indigenous perspectives into accounting education and practice. There’s a real opportunity to move the needle on how we attract, retain and develop our Indigenous accounting talent and the broader profession can support us by championing our initiatives.”  

How to make contact

If you would like to connect with Indigenous peers or students, please email the CA ANZ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Member Panel at [email protected]