Beware red flags and fakes: how to buy authentic First Nations designs that benefit creators and communities

• Australia’s Productivity Commission estimates about $250 million of Indigenous-style art and consumer products are sold annually.
• To support First Nations artists and communities, here’s what you need to know, and need to ask, before buying.

Home is where the art is

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art is more than aesthetically pleasing shapes and colours.
• It is a cultural expression, a means of passing information from one generation to the next, of telling stories.
• Dot painting, for example, is specific to the desert interior of Western Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia.

What’s the story?

• Artists have two main ways to sell their art.
• For original art, it’s through a gallery, which takes a hefty commission.


If there’s no information on who created an artwork and where they’re from, it is most likely fake. In short: buy from sellers with transparent policies. On their website and in person they should provide clear information on all off the above. Reluctance to share this information is a red flag.

Look for community connections

• Private businesses can be highly ethical and reinvest in their community, but there is greater assurance of this happening with collectively owned businesses established specifically for the benefit of local artists, to employ local people and fund community projects.
• Founded in 1985, the company uses its surpluses to fund community projects such as a health program and a dog program, which cares for the local dog population.
• They may have arrangements to sell artwork through commercial galleries nearer population hotspots.
• In the wider market for First Nations designs and products, look for evidence of Indigenous ownership, commitment to compensate artists, and other evidence of community engagement.
• But because this is focused on government and commercial procurement, it has few listings for arts, craft, and design business.

What about product certification?

• The problem, according to the Productivity Commission, is that certification schemes need high producer take-up and high consumer recognition to succeed.
• The commission has recommended an alternative approach, mandatory labelling of inauthentic products, through amending the Australian Consumer Law.
• So far, however, the federal government has given no indication of if and when it will act on these recommendations.