This Topical Issue addresses the Australian Government’s draft Indigenous Economic Development Strategy (IEDS), with specific lessons learnt from working with Aboriginal people to further their economic development in remote areas. It notes the lack of coherence between the draft IEDS and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, explores possible unintended 'perverse outcomes' based on the misapplication of the notion of 'incentives', and champions the significance of Indigenous community-based enterprises in land and sea management as an economic development option for remote areas.