Innovation Gap: Why Government and Industry Must Step onto the Impact Balcony

By Lindsay Bridge, Director, First Nations Economics

“Get off the dance floor and onto the balcony.” That insight, coined by Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky, invites leaders to rise above the noise, reflect on the system, and discern what is truly unfolding.

But maybe it’s time we evolve that thinking. Because right now, we don’t need more policy choreography or strategic footwork. We need leaders off the policy and strategy dance floor and onto the impact balcony, where outcomes are visible, patterns are clear, and accountability can no longer be outsourced.

Here’s the truth: Indigenous enterprise is not emerging; it’s moving. Supply Nation’s 2025 report, “The Sleeping Giant Rises,” confirms what communities have long known: First Nations businesses are growing with pace, confidence, and community-driven innovation.¹

And over the past few months, I’ve seen this firsthand. I’ve listened, walked alongside, and humbly learned that our mobs are already building. They’re not waiting. They’re designing, delivering, and driving new economies. Meanwhile, in many cases, our systems, across both government and industry, are still labouring through cycles of process, consultation, and risk management.

This isn’t a failure. But it is a signal.

There are First Nations entrepreneurs with vision. Innovators with models ready to scale. However, they often navigate fragmented ecosystems, ones still governed by slow capital, rigid procurement, and compliance-heavy support.

And let’s be clear: this is no longer anecdotal. The 2023 Joint Standing Committee on Economic Self-Determination laid it bare.² Systemic barriers to finance, support, and investment persist. The economic architecture to match Indigenous innovation is still not fully in place.

The entrepreneurs are here. The ecosystem is not.

So we offer this challenge to both government and industry:

Step onto the impact balcony. Not to spectate.

But to see clearly what your role is now.

  • From designing for to building with.
  • From rigid programs to adaptive capital.
  • From safe bets and compliance to shared risk and deep trust.

From the impact balcony, you can see where leadership is needed, not in strategy documents, but in decisions that fund belief, fast-track opportunities, and make room for solutions not invented in Canberra, capital Cities, or a corporate boardroom.

Indigenous enterprise is ahead. The question is: are our systems, investments, and partnerships aligned with that momentum, or are they still rehearsing choreography that no longer suits the music?

It’s time to lead differently. Not just with policy, but with proximity. Not just with statements, but with structure.

The balcony reveals what matters. But it’s what you do next that defines your impact and leadership.

References:

¹ Supply Nation (2025). The Sleeping Giant Rises: Indigenous Business Growth Report.

² Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (2023). Inquiry into Economic Self-Determination, Chapter 4.

Gurminder Saro

Interim Chair

Associate Professor Rick Macourt is a proud, queer Gumbaynggirr man, lawyer, and economic specialist. He leads First Nations Economics as Managing Director of Strategy and Foundation and serves as Associate Dean of First Nations Strategy and Services at the University of Sydney.

With over 15 years of experience spanning government, corporate, and not-for-profit sectors, Rick is deeply committed to advancing the economic development of First Peoples. As the former Director of First Nations Expenditure and Outcomes at NSW Treasury, he spearheaded the state’s inaugural Indigenous expenditure reporting processes and established the groundbreaking First Nations budget process in 2021/22. Previously, Rick held an executive role at the Westpac Group, overseeing First Nations affairs, and has a rich history in government, monitoring, evaluation, and negotiation, with senior positions at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, City of Sydney, and Standards Australia.

Rick is a published author with Oxford University Press, a member of the First Nations Advisory Board of Siemens Australia, and a Non-Executive Director on the board of Barnardos Australia.