QUT Alumni, 16 October, 2022
Speak up, be heard and be purpose driven. This is the advice that Duncan Kerslake, of Palawa heritage of Lutruwita (Tasmania), has for his people and which underlies his work every day in supporting emerging and current Indigenous businesses.
Duncan shares how he has used the foundations of his teaching degree and his ability to harness relationships to drive innovation, opportunities and real impact for his people, communities and the next generation of Indigenous leaders.
You are the Program Manager of Deadly Innovation at the Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport, what does that involve?
The Advance Queensland Deadly Innovation Strategy is about creating jobs and economic wealth for our people. Ensuring our people can stay on country, in community, connected to family and culture and fully participate in the economy. We talk a lot about the social issues in our communities and how we can address these, but rarely about the benefits of economic participation. Our people are a working people, we cared for country, we hunted, we gathered, working for the betterment of our people is what we did. I’ve always believed that economic participation is one way we can create purpose and hope, and have true self determination as a sovereign people. In a capitalist society, money is one of the tools that provides us freedom and choice.
Deadly Innovation is a strengths-built model, fully co-designed with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Business and Innovation Reference Group. All the conversations I’ve had since I was much younger with Elders, community members and businesses were utilised to build the strategy and framework that supports the approach.
Our people are asset rich but cash poor. The current legislation and policies don’t allow us to leverage our assets for investment in projects on country, so it makes us reliant on the government for investment. Our focus is to find strong commercial buyers for products who are also willing to invest at the front end. They become a capability partner rather than utilising a joint venture model, where our people will likely lose control. Innovation is about doing things differently, better or more efficiently. We look for change agents, someone that is already doing it and needs a hand up and we then find the buyer and map out the commercial pipeline to success. Under Deadly Innovation we run about 60 programs, projects and initiatives.
How are Indigenous Australian Entrepreneurs driving social innovation?
I think most Indigenous businesses are driving social innovation and benefiting the broader Indigenous business ecosystem. Clearly our mob like working for our mob and it is the reason why all levels of government have Indigenous Procurement Policies. We know that Indigenous businesses are 30 times more likely to employ mob over non-Indigenous companies. We also know that Indigenous businesses buy from other Indigenous businesses. Nearly all the Indigenous businesses I know support community in some way - whether its little things like doing printing, volunteering company time and resources, or through a sponsorship where they can afford it. Most never advertise it or ask for acknowledgment, these businesses do it to ensure the next generation have opportunities they themselves didn’t have.
Lots of the businesses I deal with are doing really innovative stuff with an eye on the environment and caring for country.
What has been a career highlight for you?
My career highlight is the establishment of the Cherbourg Digital Transformation Project - an idea I had six years ago and the first project I developed under the Deadly Innovation Strategy in August 2018. I strongly believe that digital connectivity will be a game changer for our people. No longer can we be excluded from the economy. While many industries like manufacturing, tourism, agriculture and aquaculture require large costs and infrastructure to create jobs, digital does not. We currently have eight people working in digital jobs in a company owned by the Cherbourg community, with Fujitsu as the foundation customer. Since the announcement of the Cherbourg Digital Centre, we have been inundated with interest from corporates such as Telstra and have secured commitments for over 100 jobs. We will start rolling these out across Queensland over the next 12 months.
What is one skill you couldn’t live without and why?
My strategic thinking and ability to get people to collaborate. I’ve always been able to get people to come on the journey with me. It’s a challenge to get everyone in the same canoe paddling in the same direction and to stay the course. Lots of the stuff I do is like playing a game of chess. And sometimes it’s 3D chess, where there are other games on other boards that you can’t see but you are trying to predict.
How did your QUT teaching degree impact your career journey?
Some people may not see how my degree relates to what I do, but I know it put me on the path I am on today. I started out as a trade cook, this lead me to become a hospitality teacher, then a trainer teaching work readiness and then on the path to creating jobs and supporting Indigenous businesses.
Were you the first in your family to attend university?
No, my parents were very big on education particularly my Mum. She always wanted to be a doctor, but she wasn’t allowed. I have four sisters and each of them went to university and have degrees in Accounting, Physiotherapy, Law/Arts/Journalism and Speech Pathology. I’m absolutely the least academic of all of my siblings. I had an accident when I was younger that left me with a learning disability. My sister Emma really pushed me to go to university and it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Getting my degree was a massive achievement for me. Like massive!!