About Us

About

IndigiGrow native plant initiative was created in 2018 and is based at La Perouse Public School Sydney, NSW. IndigiGrow, is a social enterprise from First Hand Solutions Aboriginal Corporation. It sustains people, land and culture through the propagation & growing of native plants, including bush foods and the critically endangered Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub (ESBS). IndigiGrow has been operating at La Perouse in Sydney for 5 years.

IndigiGrow employs 10 local Aboriginal staff including 7 Aboriginal apprentices. It operates an online shop and also has retail & wholesale outlets. The retail nursery is at La Perouse Public School and the wholesale nursery at Matraville Sports High School opening 21 January 2023. 

IndigiGrow is underpinned by Culture, Connection to Country & Caring for Country while utilising native plants with objectives to pass down traditional knowledge and stories from elders to our young apprentices that instill a strong cultural foundation and connection to country whilst building their resilience and identity.

Our Work

We seek to deliver positive cultural & environmental projects by growing & reviving local endangered native plants and native edibles. Through the passing down of traditional knowledge to our young Indigenous staff and providing opportunities for the wider community to engage and learn, IndigiGrow educates and introduces people about the wide ranging benefits of native plants.

IndigiGrow ensures that the cultural knowledge of our people is understood, respected & protected. We do this by passing down knowledge to our young Indigenous apprentices. This project is a working model that shows not only urban communities how to live sustainably, but also a scalable model for regional & remote communities.

We retain culture & increase biodiversity and fauna habitats by replenishing many native species that are important to our culture and the local ecosystem. We educate people about our plants, and break down cultural barriers through a better understanding and appreciation of our native plants & bushfoods.

Social Impact

The Blak Markets and IndigiGrow is a small business incubator for Aboriginal people in the arts, craft and horticulture space and provides culturally sensitive and in-built services to help people overcome barriers to inclusion and participation.

Our aim is to give indigenous people and unemployed youth-at-risk access to industry experience and for them to feel included in the community.

Our solution of education and training within a high demand sector addresses these problems on many levels. We are not only providing a skillset that adds to the city and state GDP but we are also building relationships and fostering a more inclusive community by providing opportunities for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people to come together around common themes.

Being a social enterprise means that we reinvest our profits back into training and providing employment & economic opportunities for indigenous people and small businesses.

We provide cultural skills and knowledge along with on the job work experience to expand the employment opportunities for young Indigenous people.

Download our Social Impact Report