NSW Government Awards $250,000 to Support Women in Business

• Unkya Local Aboriginal Land Council and The Social Outcomes Lab were granted $250,000 each from NSW government funds
• The funds will empower 90+ women to develop skills and boost confidence in their business dealings

Two local groups have received a grant of $250,000 each from the government of New South Wales to assist more than 90 women in developing their skill sets and boosting their confidence to meet their business objectives.

Unkya Local Aboriginal Land Council and The Social Outcomes Lab were the grant recipients as part of the government’s Supporting Women in Business Grants Program in 2025/26.

The Minister for Women for New South Wales has pointed out that there are many women in NSW with excellent business concepts but require assistance to develop them into successful enterprises.

The projects are one of the ways through which the NSW government is working collaboratively with local communities to offer women business training and advice on how to turn their innovative business concepts into successful ventures.

Unkya Local Aboriginal Land Council will deliver the program “Empowering Nyamis in Business and Culture, Strengthening Skills, Confidence and Economic Independence.”

This will aim at supporting local Aboriginal women who want to establish or expand their micro or small businesses in the Nambucca Valley, Bellingen Shire, and the surrounding regions in and around Coffs Harbour. The initiative will seek to empower them by providing them with business training, and mentoring

This was made clearer by Michele Donovan, CEO of Unkya Local Aboriginal Land Council, who stated that it is an opportunity where Aboriginal women are able to utilize their knowledge to provide a product or experience that has a foundation based on their culture and can ultimately give them confidence in developing a tourism business based on their Gumbaynggirr heritage.

The Social Outcomes Lab will deliver the program called "Business Incubator for Migrant Women Foodpreneurs."

The program aims at empowering migrant and refugee women to start their own food-related business. The program will be conducted within the districts of Cumberland, Campbelltown, Parramatta, and Queanbeyan-Palerang.

Nazia Ahmed, the Managing Director of The Social Outcomes Lab, observed that the purpose of the accelerator program is to support and enable migrant women to develop sustainable food enterprises and increase social cohesion too.

By this program, migrant women will be provided with useful training and would increase their confidence and access new resources like investment, and this will result in increased community connection by virtue of the stories of the food entrepreneurship enterprises.

Eventually, the program will be able to create an international social franchise model that can enhance livelihoods and assist women in achieving their entrepreneurial goals.