Blakwashing — greenwashing’s cousin
Know it when you see it. Then do something about it.
Blakwashing is organisations faking or inflating Indigenous ownership and involvement — to win contracts, credibility or cover. Barayamal has documented it since 2019. The real thing is thriving, and the surest answer to blakwashing is to find it, back it and buy from it.
or run the field test · see the evidence
Half of $7 billionin Indigenous procurement went to just 18 organisations — ANU study, Nov 2025
Three doors, one problem
Different readers arrive with different jobs. The hub routes each straight to the right tool.
Learn it · /blakwashing/course/
Blakwashing 101
For newcomers, staff training and schools
- Five modules, 15 minutes, no sign-up
- The playbook — how cladding really works
- A self-test: can you spot it?
- Glossary — IPP, certified vs registered, RAP
Spot it · /blakwashing/guide/
The Field Guide
For buyers, procurement teams and consumers at the moment of decision
- The six-question field test — with a verdict
- Ownership vs control, side by side
- The greenwashing parallel table
- Printable + copy-paste into any tender
Prove it · /blakwashing/record/
The Public Record
For media, policy people and anyone who says “prove it”
- Every audit, study and case — sourced + linked
- Two definitions, one problem
- Since 2019: seventeen linked pieces — the timeline
- Cite-this-page for newsrooms
No time? The pattern in 60 seconds
MOVE 01
The badge
Majority Indigenous ownership on paper — a joint venture or shell.
MOVE 02
The bid
The badge unlocks Indigenous procurement contracts and diversity targets.
MOVE 03
The switch
The non-Indigenous partner runs delivery and controls the money.
MOVE 04
The skim
Profit exits through fees and subcontracts. Communities never see it.
That’s black cladding — blakwashing’s procurement form. The full mechanism, with sources, is in the field guide.
The strongest answer to blakwashing is to back the real thing. Find and hire genuine First Nations businesses in Barayamal’s directory, and if you buy for an organisation put real money behind them through the 3% campaign — this page just helps you make sure “genuine” means genuine.