As Australia’s native food industry continues to boom, experts are now calling for Indigenous leaders in the field to have a seat at the table.

Aboriginal leaders and advocates have joined together to call out commercial companies that are exploiting native food knowledge without adequate engagement from the communities. According to Public Health Association Australia they are now urging government action to ensure Indigenous people can better lead and control the access and benefits that arise from both traditional knowledge and foods.

The commentary was published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, and represents the collective view of six leading Aboriginal academics and one non-Indigenous researcher who all have expertise across policy, law, bush food and traditional Indigenous medicines.

Lead author, Dr Luke Williams – a Gumbaynggir man from northern NSW and a University of Queensland researcher focusing on the traditional uses of native plants for both food and medicine – said native plants are an essential part of Aboriginal cultural identity.

“Access to our traditionally used plant sources have been vastly eroded by colonisation – many Indigenous people have been displaced from their traditional lands, natural resources have been destroyed or control has been taken away, and knowledge systems around how best to maintain and use these resources is increasingly lost. Climate change is also creating a new threat for our natural plant resources,” he said.

“Greater access and resourcing to help our communities access and develop traditionally used native foods would offer a range of benefits. It provides opportunities to be active and moving around on Country, a mechanism for youth to be learning culture from Elders, eating healthy foods, and caring for Country. There are also economic opportunities that can be developed from the sale and development of native plants and botanicals.”

Dr Williams said he is also especially concerned about the growing commercialisation of Indigenous knowledge of native ingredients without genuine community engagement or benefit.

“Native foods are a $100 million dollar industry in Australia. Well-known examples include ingredients like lemon myrtle, Davidson plum, finger lime, wattleseed and Kakadu plum,” he said.

“A 2020 report looking at 13 native plants, all of which have a long history of use in Aboriginal communities, estimated that the industry would be worth $140 million in 2025. Yet, it is estimated that a miniscule amount, less than 1 per cent of industry revenue, goes to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

“The most outrageous thing we hear about is black cladding – where non-Indigenous companies use Aboriginal art or words that imply community involvement or engagement. We need strong government action now to protect against this cultural appropriation, so that consumers can make informed decisions when purchasing these products.”

Outgoing vice president (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) of the Public Health Association of Australia, and senior paper author Dr Alan Gall leads a program of research focused on Indigenous medicine at Southern Cross University. She said it was really concerning to see Indigenous knowledge being commercialised without appropriate protection.

“Internationally, Australia has signed up to the 2024 international law that aims to protect Indigenous cultural knowledge from appropriation and provides intellectual property guards, among other important international laws like the Nagoya Protocol. These need to be ratified with standalone legislation that work for Indigenous communities,” she said.

“With our native food and medicine industry booming and set to continue to grow it’s crucial that action is taken now to close the legal gap that allows native foods and Indigenous knowledge to be used without community engagement or accountability.

“At the same time, we need innovative government action to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders secure better access to and control over the foods and medicines that are an essential part of their cultural identity and health.”

The paper authors are calling for:

• The introduction of legislation that prohibits misleading Indigenous branding on both products and services;
• The establishment of a certification mark that guarantees genuine Indigenous products, or engagement with Traditional Custodians;
• The establishment of an Indigenous-led national industry body that can represent the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples right across the country; and
• The establishment of regional hubs to support Indigenous communities and businesses with their bush food aspirations at a local level. This would include education, food security, or enterprise development.