The Business Solutions Program (BSP) provides financial and business support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business owners and entrepreneurs through access to finance, skills, knowledge and resources to acquire, establish and grow a viable business. The purpose of this evaluation was to understand whether the BSP’s delivery has achieved its policy intent to support and develop early stage, pre-bank and high-risk Indigenous businesses.

The evaluation was guided by an evaluation strategy including a program logic and theory of change. The evaluation used a mixed-methods approach including qualitative and quantitative methods to answer 11 key evaluation questions. Key sources of data included Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) public reporting, internal governance policies and procedures, BSP performance reports, customer data (such as support type, loan amount, and industry), survey and interview data.

Key findings

• The financial products and business support services delivered under the BSP were aligned with the policy intent of supporting Indigenous businesses.
• The majority of KPIs were met, although there were some issues with the accuracy and rigour of the KPIs.
• Survey data from existing customers shows that the BSP generally met the needs of its business customers.
• IBA’s governance and administration policies, systems, and processes were somewhat efficient and mostly effective in delivering the BSP.