CEO Stan Liacos said the management will take a “collaborative approach” to phase out the sale of inauthentic goods instead of waiting for guidelines or direction from a new national law.
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Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market has cracked down on the sale of inauthentic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander souvenir products, ahead of new laws which come into force next year.
In August, the Productivity Commission found two in every three Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-style souvenirs sold in Australia are inauthentic, with no connection to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. That signalled the way for the introduction of new laws to protect consumers and the Indigenous.
Queen Victoria Market CEO, Stan Liacos, said the sale of inauthentic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander products was “out of step” with contemporary Australian values.
“Selling inauthentic products isn’t just disrespectful to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and dishonest to customers, it also undercuts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses and legitimate artists who are trading in authentic items and trying to make a living,” said Liacos.
QVM management will take a “collaborative approach” to phase out the sale of inauthentic goods instead of waiting for guidelines or direction from a new national law.
“We know our traders aren’t knowingly doing the wrong thing and we’ll be supporting affected businesses to transition their product mix.”
In line with long-term customer feedback, Liacos said the ban on inauthentic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander products will help in the wider efforts to gradually improve and modernise the standard and variety of merchandise sold at the market.
The land on which the market stands, and the surrounding area, belong to the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation, who are the traditional owners.
The sale of inauthentic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander products nationwide will be phased out from next July.
The post Queen Victoria Market to ban sale of inauthentic Indigenous products appeared first on Inside Retail.
