Indigenous people are still struggling to get a toehold in the Australian economy with financial exclusion rife, according to a recent report from the Centre for Social Impact entitled Measuring Financial Exclusion in Australia.

Indigenous Australians were banking on better access to the financial system from the Gillard govt

It should come as no surprise to those with even a passing interest in Indigenous affairs. It’s hard to keep up with all the doom and gloom performance indicators in education, health and housing. The alarm bells have been ringing for so long we’ve become ‘ho hum’ to the noise.

So financial exclusion is no different. The report shows that Indigenous Australians are doing it tough. Actually, they’re doing it the toughest.

Some facts :

- 43.1% of Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islanders (ATSI) are now financially excluded, a vast over-representation compared to 17.2% of non-ATSI Australians.

- Only 12% (compared to 38.7% for non Indigenous) of Indigenous Australians surveyed would be in a position to access $3,000 in case of an emergency.

- For Indigenous Australians, an inability to provide necessary documentation (17.9% compared to 8.7% non Indigenous) and language difficulties (5.1% compared to 2.1% non Indigenous) and distance to a bank branch (2.6% compared to 3.9% non Indigenous) prove to be key barriers to accessing mainstream finance,

- Indigenous Australians are twice as likely to face difficulties in getting credit from mainstream credit providers and they have a significantly higher reliance on community and government assistance like Centrelink advance payments (53.8% compared to 27.3% non Indigenous) as well as fringe credit (25.6% compared to 7.2% non Indigenous).

Minister for Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin knows it’s a problem. That’s why she has a Money Management Branch within her Department. However, while they fund nice painted Toyota land cruisers to roam around the Northern Territory, evaluations of effectiveness of the Branch’s programs are few and far between.

The problem is, the government has been slow to grasp the extent of the issue and has mistakenly assumed it only happens in remote communities - which is not the case. The report clearly shows that financial exclusion is alive and well in the big smoke. In places like northern Melbourne financial exclusion is 21.9% higher than the national average. And my mob in North West NSW is 20.8% higher.

To compound things, the government seems more focused on sticks than carrots when addressing Indigenous financial exclusion. It must be cheaper to quarantine everyone’s welfare, rather than spend money on financial education and affordable financial products.

But here’s the really dumb bit. Instead of seeking to make good policy and better regulate payday lenders or developing microfinance programs with incentives for people to save, the Government is about to create the illusion that it cares.

In the coming weeks the Minister for Financial Services Bill Shorten will sign off on the Credit Enhancements Bill that barely regulates predatory payday lending practice. Shorten has heard from users of fringe credit about all the negative impacts of high cost loans that exacerbate financial exclusion. However, he has either found it too difficult or perhaps too costly to actually fund a genuine alternative.

For example, Shorten axed from the original legislation a cap on upfront fees charged by payday lenders at 10% of the loan for amounts of less than $2,000, with monthly interest payments capped at 2%. Instead the Minister doubles the caps to 20% and 4%.

So on a $500 loan you could be slugged a $100 establishment fee (20%) and your first repayment could be $20 (4%) i.e. $120 fees and interest. Let’s say you pay the loan back with your next pay in a month’s time. That would be $620. I don’t think we’ll be seeing that on any pay day lender’s promotional material.

For Indigenous Australia it’s a double whammy. Firstly, Macklin’s financial literacy programs mostly targeted remote communities and misses the vast majority of Indigenous Australian who need it. And then there is Shorten’s ‘all sauce and no pie’ regulatory reform.

You’d have to give both Ministers a D for their efforts. The whole shemozzle is another missed opportunity from a Government that promised so much, yet has delivered so little for Indigenous Australia.

The fact is that everyone in the finance industry wants a sector that is full of responsible lenders and lending practices. It’s also important that customers learn to operate effectively in the financial system, know their limits, their rights and their responsibilities.

The findings from the Centre for Social Impact report Measuring Financial Exclusion in Australia highlights the stakes are high. Indigenous financial exclusion is as pervasive as any of the other problems that plague Indigenous Australia and it’s getting worse.

I’m sure the ‘big wigs’ in Canberra know this, but you never know…….

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    • Confused says:

      05:31am | 07/09/12

      At $45000 per head in funding I am wondering why they need a loan…..where is all this $25 000000 per year funding going?

    • Tator says:

      08:23am | 07/09/12

      Most of it is going on the remote communities.  The report “Rivers of money flow into the sand” by Professor Helen Hughes states
      “About 215,000 Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders are dependent on welfare. Most of these—about 140,000—also live in major cities and regional towns. Most have dropped out of, or never entered, the labour force, so they receive single parents’ and disability rather than unemployment social security payments. These welfare-dependent indigenous Australians live side by side with non-indigenous welfare-dependent Australians and mostly receive the same benefits and government services.[iv]
      Most indigenous funding is for the 75,000 indigenous Australians in remote communities. When allocated across to these remote indigenous Australians, government expenditure is more than $100,000 per person per year—$400,000 per family of four. “

    • insider says:

      09:57am | 07/09/12

      From what I see it mostly goes to beurocrats rather than front line workers.

    • Babylon says:

      10:07am | 07/09/12

      HSU’d? Or AWU’d even?

    • Sustainability says:

      05:25pm | 07/09/12


      The biggest challenge to remote communities is the rising oil price.  As the price of oil increases so to will the cost of maintaining these remote communities.

    • dale says:

      07:40am | 07/09/12

      Its funny everyone goes around yelling about the nanny state and then when they dont regulate everyone is telling them they have missed the mark.

      To go off the anti-nanny state people lines…. where is the personal responcibility? why dont the elders jump in and stop the horrid practices?
      I feel the same for all people on welfare and i think the payment schemes being slowly rolled out and tested are a good answer.

      The lack of banks in the bush… well if you can get the government to have a bank it wont privatise then you could complain but as it is maybe some of the money in mining royalties Aboriginal people are given for there land could be used to start up a remote bank. how hard could it be… show everyone what you are capable and put all the nay sayers in there place =)

      But i do agree with you that all pay day lenders are scum and should be shut down thrown in the street and whipped. leagal loan sharks are still loan sharks.

    • Trevor says:

      07:41am | 07/09/12

      Lovely sentiment, however this is the path to the dark side as the US found out when mandating NINJA loans for those at the economic fringe.. I don’t think it would be racist to suggest that such loans would be subprime?

    • Mr.Tiny says:

      08:19am | 07/09/12

      Apparently I’m financial excluded too. I have no ID, would not have a clue how to get $3000 and an reliant on centrelink dispite haveing a job (thank you BSWAT).

      It’s a little annoying at times but it’s not that bad. Though it would be good if something was done to help somehow, I would be annoyed if the solution was restricted by race.

    • FINK says:

      08:31am | 07/09/12

      “where is all this $25 000000 per year funding going?”
      The price of petrol has risen? Oh that is so PiC!

    • Life is going to get tougher says:

      05:13pm | 07/09/12

      While not agreeing with your comment I do note that the sustainability of the remote communities become increasingly less viable as oil prices have permanently perched themselves above 100 dollars a barrel.  As the oil price heads further north during the rest of this decade this problem for indigenous communities is going to get worse not better.  If people think life is tough now then they should give it another five years.  Life will be much, much tougher and we will be talking about oil of 200 dollars a barrel.

    • Yak says:

      08:32am | 07/09/12

      It’s always someone else’s fault…...

      I would have trouble getting my hands on $3k, I don’t know what “Financial Exclusion” means, I can’t get credit: unless I don’t need it, and if I get a payday loan it’s going to cost me a lot in interest. Now, can I have a Govt. Dept just for me….

      How about some personal responsibility.

    • Borderer says:

      08:38am | 07/09/12

      How about they use the existing programs that are in place first and once they are being fully utilised then consider financial assistance? Why do you need to throw even more money at them?
      Aboriginal Australians are already entitled to a free education, various grants and they also have government departments and mining companies falling over themselves to provide employment. Why do they need a loan scheme that could be massively open to abuse, do you have rocks in your head? Right now they need to get off the welfare wagon and stand as a people, shoulder to shoulder with the rest of Australia, the victim mentality must end.

    • Mouse says:

      12:12pm | 07/09/12

      Also Borderer, loans are supposed to be paid back…. :o)

    • Borderer says:

      01:51pm | 07/09/12

      That just means it’s not being costed in the budget, it sits in their balance sheet until someone down the track bites the bullet and writes it off. Basically it is an opportunity to be seen to be helping aboriginal people without short term budget impact, regardless of the schemes merits or obvious flaws.
      Frankly they just need to be treated like everyone else, use the surplus money to fund remote health and education that benefits all, regardless of skin colour.

    • Pauline says:

      08:54am | 07/09/12

      So what do the panel of Elders who’ve been consulted think can be done about these issues?  What do they believe their people want to do regarding this?  Do indigenous Aussies want to be a part of mainstream culture? (which is cool either way)

      Is there a way we can mix this, and if so, can we get some obvious buy-in from the indigenous community, rather than reports about how badly mainstream society is treating the indigenous community?  Obviously, from the opening statements, we’re not doing a very good job at integrating, and there’s significant room for improvement.  However, also quite obviously, what we’re doing now isn’t working, so perhaps it’s time to get some other thinkers on board, put the past into a box to be addressed when we can and focus on fixing the present and future?

    • The US Economy says:

      09:07am | 07/09/12

      Yes, lets provide sub-prime loans to low income people.

      What could possibly go wrong…

    • scubasteve says:

      09:16am | 07/09/12

      Should read ‘Indigenous aussies are all along if they cant get a JOB’.
      If indigenous aussies were employed then the market forces would bring financial services to them.
      I vote for a govenment that will stop pandering to leftist social ideology and make some real changes to bring about real jobs and industry to Aboriginal Aussies.
      There should be some pain involved on all sides.

    • Nigel says:

      09:16am | 07/09/12

      Australians? Or are we still going to say there are two types of Australians? If one day we are all Aussies and not Indigenous Aussies and Non indigenous Aussies there may be less discrimination. Anyone who works can get a loan nowadays. Is this a hint? The welfare handed out to Indigenous Aussies is higher in most cases than the poor old pensioner who worked and paid taxes all their lives. In my eyes any welfare handed out to able bodied Aussies is a loan in itself and when they get the job, they are paying it back by paying taxes. I’m afraid it is now time to fit in. Stop complaining and try a little harder to be one of us Australians.

    • ronny jonny says:

      09:34am | 07/09/12

      All that’s needed to not be excluded from the financial system is a steady job and a decent credit history. So what is the issue? Can’t get a job? Move to where you can get one. You know, like everyone else. Perhaps if aboriginals were not treated as children anymore they would have a chance to sort out their problems. Oh that’s right, not their problems, the problems inflicted on them by evil white people. Until they take ownership of their issues they will never change, no matter how much money government throws at them.

    • AdamC says:

      09:54am | 07/09/12

      Isn’t this ‘financial exclusion’ essentially a symptom of generalised indigenous disadvantage? Not to be excessively indelicate, but anyone who sports both a poorly-managed substance abuse problem and chronic unemployment is likely to find it difficult to access mainstream finance. As most of us accept, the root causes of indigenous disadvantage are unemployment and booze.

      I also think this article is a bit harsh on payday or fringe lending. It is easy to rag on the usurers, but it doesn’t help anyone if you simply shut down the shylock and all his clients lose any access to credit.

    • Tubesteak says:

      10:25am | 07/09/12

      You would be right. The bigger picture of the root cause is that indigenous peoples are in this cycle of welfare dependency and rejecting mainstream education. Some of this could be due to remoteness but the problem also exists in towns and cities that have these estalishments. What is needed is a more targetted program to change the culture to value the mainstream ethos of get an education and get a job. This will be a long process but it is what is necessary to happen.

    • Sick of the whinging... says:

      10:43am | 07/09/12

      Agree with the first paragraph.  You shouldn’t be able to access all the benefits of western society, without taking the responsibility of adapting to the requirements of living with all those perks, ie, providing ID, learning english, being within reasonable distance to services.

      Go to school, get a job (yes, you might have to move away from home, get over it, lots of white people do it!!), take some responsibility for your own life, don’t have it dictated by past mistakes.  Yes, your parents may have made poor life choices, doesn’t mean you get to hide behind those and whinge for the rest of your life.

      Take some responsibility for the survival of your culture, and don’t expect the government to do it for you.  You can keep your culture alive, live with respect and function in the modern world. 

      Adapt.  Only you can do it for yourself, same as every other race on the planet.

    • Licensed Lender says:

      09:56am | 07/09/12

      You failed to mention that the government has introduced a whole raft of new, amorphous compliance (and penalties to match) that makes everything harder for the lender to do business.  It pushes costs up, restricts time and only further fosters financial exclusion.

    • Babylon says:

      10:10am | 07/09/12

      What were the Gillard Governments Indigenous Policies described as by Aboriginal leaders and Amnesty? Ah yes, ‘Ethnic cleansing’ and references were made to the ‘dark days of South Africa.’


    • James1 says:

      10:19am | 07/09/12

      All of those problems are the result of choices made by individuals.  Firstly, people on Centrelink payments should not be able to access credit in the same way as working people, because the former are highly unlikely to be able to make the necessary repayments.  I had hoped we had seen the results of making poor loans in the US during their recent glut of mortgage foreclosures and resultant bank failures (and bailouts, at huge cost to US taxpayers).

      Secondly, if you choose to live a long way from a bank, you can hardly complain about not living close to a bank.  If you want easy access to banks and financial institutions, move somewhere else.

      Thirdly, I can access money for emergencies because I save money for emergencies.  The government plays no role in this; I do, through my personal responsibility.  Furthermore, I would say that, if a person is on Centrelink benefits and they have $3000 saved, they should have their benefits cut until they have spent this money.  Centrelink is not there to provide you with all the comforts that the working population has, like savings.  It is there to provide you with enough to subsist until you find a job, and if you are saving money then evidently your payment is too high.  We should not be seeking to provide unproductive elements of the population with the same benefits and luxuries as those experienced by productive sectors of the population.

      Fourthly, most people tend to make sure they have the necessary language skills to engage with modern finance by going to school and acquiring the necessary language skills.  No one is going to give you these skills - every individual must develop them themselves through work and dedication.

      Overall, I am uncomfortable with the idea that the government should be fixing these things - ultimately, individuals are responsible for their condition, and if we abrogate this responsibility to governments the problems you identify will be exacerbated, because people will have no incentive to take the necessary steps to improve their lot in life.  This welfarist model has done a lot of damage to our society, and the carrots offered in the past have clearly been ineffective in bringing people out of poverty, regardless of what racial or ethnic community they come from.  Indeed, in many communities (again, Anglo as much as any minority ethnic of racial group) this welfarist approach has simply entrenched disadvantage, at the same time as fostering a sense of dependence and entitlement. 

      I agree that the problems identified are real, and impose serious costs on individuals.  However, government regulation of lenders is not the answer here, a new approach to individual responsibility for welfare dependent individuals is.  Carrots have been entirely ineffective, and It is time for us to explore what sticks can acheive, in my opinion.  Financial literacy programs are a part of the solution, sure, and they should be expanded to more indigenous (and non-indigenous) communities.  However, unless an individual is working, their problems will remain, and until individuals are working, there will be no progress.  And there is nothing that the government can, or should, be doing about this that the individuals concerned cannot do for themselves, given the right education and a willingness to work or move to where they can make a life for themselves, and their families.

    • Admiral Ackbar says:

      01:03pm | 07/09/12

      Now James, this common sense approach to adopting a sense of personal responsibility will never catch on.

      But seriously, you articulate my very thoughts better than I could. I don’t know why people, not just Indigenous Aussies, but people in general who depend on welfare can’t just be self sufficient, responsible and productive. Are they not adults? Do they not realise that the money that they get for free inevitably comes from someone who has worked for said money? If so they seem to be perfectly fine with this, and I don’t know how.

      I certainly wouldn’t be comfortable accepting money on a regular basis that was ultimately earned by someone else, then go on to complain about how hard it is to get ahead. It’s not hard to make a life for yourself with a reasonable income, I did it, and I’m an idiot.

    • Testfest says:

      10:25am | 07/09/12

      I assumed that indigenous australians are judged for loan eligibility on the exact same criteria as EVERYONE else - employment history, income amount, credit history, assets, that sort of thing.

      Is that not correct? If indigenous australians are not satisfying those criteria, then whose fault is that?

      Didn’t the US decide that it was a good idea to provide loans to all and sundry? The old NINJA scheme - no income, no job, no assets. I hear that worked out great for the entire planet.

      Does anyone else find it odd that a banker is criticising the government for not passing laws that prevent banks from totally screwing their customers? Seriously? You’re blaming the government for not stopping banks from charging high fees, but not the banks themselves?

      Hey banker boy! Maybe you could tell your bosses to VOLUNTARILY cut their exorbitant fees? You know, they don’t HAVE to charge the absolute maximum that the law allows.

      I think that you should write this article again but maybe add some criticism of your employer for being greedy tools in addition to criticising the government (who certainly deserve all they get).

    • Yak says:

      12:19pm | 07/09/12

      No one else need comment. Testfest has hit the nail on the head, a few times.

      Well said Sir/Madam.

    • Anne71 says:

      12:47pm | 07/09/12

      Have to agree, Testfest. I’m pretty sure being knocked back for a loan is not just an indigenous issue - it happens to anybody, regardless of colour, who the banks decide don’t meet their criteria.  Heck, I’d love to buy a house, but on the salary I’m on at present it’s not going to happen. Does that make me “financially excluded”? No, it means that I either accept that I won’t own a house, or I do what’s necessary to move to a higher-paying job that will allow me to get a mortgage.  Either way, it’s up to me - NOT the government or anyone else.

    • sami says:

      02:55pm | 07/09/12

      Goddamn right. I’m so white I’m practically see-through and I can’t get a loan or credit card either- heck I can even get a phone plan! No point having a big sook about it and asking for a handout. I just deal with it and live within my means. It’s not that hard.

    • thatmosis says:

      12:01pm | 07/09/12

      reading through the posts here one can conclude that the obvious sentiment is, get an education , get a job and then apply for a loan. Its not rocket science but just what every person has to do to get ahead. If you have to leave home so be it, its not the end of the world after all Gillard is supplying us with the NBN(LOL) and there are such things a mobile phones and Skype to stay in touch so where is the problem, maybe in in the fact that most of the indigenous peoples would rather sit on their duffs and expect every body else to do the work for them, sounds about right from this end.

    • Bozzie says:

      12:53pm | 07/09/12

      If I didn’t have a regular job or chose not to show up to my regular job,  I wouldn’t get paid and therefore I wouldn’t get a loan either.  Indigenous Australia needs to take some ownership of their own situation and GET A JOB, stop relying on everyone else to fix the problem.  Certainly, the Aus Government hasn’t helped the situation, allowing Indigenous people to believe they don’t have to do anything for cash but the solution comes from both sides.  I live in an area where jobs are thrown at the indigenous population, where positive discrimination is well at play but once the job is secured, apparently you don’t have to show up anymore.  Indigenous Australia also needs to realise they are not unique in their ‘invasion’ situation.  Every country since time immemorial has been invaded and taken over by another one at some stage.  I don’t see the indigenous British demanding those of Norman descent leave their country, nor the Celtic French suing Rome for damages when Ceasar invaded their nation or aethists pursuing the Spanish Catholic church for pain and suffering during the Inquisition.

    • vince says:

      12:59pm | 07/09/12

      After reading all this , replys and comments, about US aboriginal people, they still havent got a clue we dont see any of the so called millions, its all designed to keep us in one spot and rely on the government,

    • Esteban says:

      02:22pm | 07/09/12

      Vince. It is not designed to keep you reliant on the government but it has that result.

      Many Government run programs have the opposite effect to their intention.

      Medicare was intended to make medicine more acceaaable but it has had the opposite effect.

    • Esteban says:

      01:44pm | 07/09/12

      Anyone who was unemployed and without assets would struggle to get a $3000 loan in an emergency.

      In fact the bank has a duty to ensure the loan can be repaid without hardship such as starving or missing rent. This is enshrined within the consumer credit code.

      There is no excuse for Banks to have staff not very familiar with the implications of the consumer credit code. Particuarluy those commenting on lending policy.

      In fact if it can be demonstrated that if the loan was not repayable from the outset then there is very good precedence for the courts to require the bank to forgive the loan.

      As an aside i wonder if the writer has stats on how aboriginals fare in access to free legal aid to pursue such claims in comparison to non aboriginals.

      The upshot is that the writer should have researched the ability of employed aboriginals to obtian a loan compared to employed non aboriginals.

      This article might lead some people to believe that racism exists in bank’s formal lending policy which I doubt very much.

      Of course outside of formal policy an individual bank manager’s perception is shaped by their own experiences. Sometimes a partucular demographic can emerge a s being less reliable to repay unsecured monies than another.

      Banks have the capacity to be a cheap payday lender for micro loans. Unfortunately it is too easy to get a small loan then open another account at a different bank and request centrelink to direct future monies to the new bank.

      This leaves a small debt with the old bank. The bank manager from the first bank will feel badly let down and writeoff the debt.

      Unfortunately the actions of those who rorted the bank have made it very difficult for a bank manager to give cheap pay day loans which has opened the door for profit motivated payday lenders.

      these lenders may appear predatory but the fees and interest rates come about because they are lending money to are much higher risk of default.

    • iMitchy says:

      03:02pm | 07/09/12


      I agree, the statistics need to ignore the people who do not meet lending criteria.

      Financially and politically all Australians should be treated as equal. When will people stop blaming their problems on the colour of their skin?

    • Jim says:

      01:59pm | 07/09/12

      The truth of the matter is that no one is going to be given a loan if they cannot pay it back. Financial institutions aren’t charities. They are driven by profits and servicing the share holders - that is the nature of banking. Nobody can get a loan from a reputable bank in this country without either a job, solid credit history or a guarantor.

      The monetary system does not discriminate on race, it discriminates by productivity, class and risk.

    • Swamp Thing says:

      02:09pm | 07/09/12

      Heres a newsflash ‘Not only Abos can find it difficult to get a loan’. Shock horror.

    • St. Michael says:

      02:48pm | 07/09/12

      The elephant in the room here, particularly for the Lefties, is the Aboriginal cultural practice of only belonging on one patch of land - your ‘Dreaming’, as it were, and being supposedly unable to live unless you’re living on it.  Typically, said Dreaming is a long way from a bank.

      Just to go tangentially, when the whole Israel/Palestine/it’s my land as ordained by God argument comes up, lefties traditionally scream that Israel has no right to the land in Palestine just because God said so or because the Israelis claim they have a cultural connection to it.  Typically the argument is accompanied by the derogatory term ‘sky fairy’.

      However, when one raises the application of this principle in the Aboriginal context, particularly in reference to the alleged existence of fairies of the sky, land, trees, and water, one tends to find the same lefties go just a little bit quiet.  What’s up with that?

    • anders says:

      03:04pm | 07/09/12

      What’s up with you not doing even the slightest bit of research.
      First the Nazi rocket scientist now the “one patch of land”?

      Traditional Australian Aborigines lived a nomadic life, following the seasons and the food.
      And you want to be taken seriously?

    • iMitchy says:

      03:15pm | 07/09/12

      When one opens a door, ten others close for that person.

      If you make the decision to believe that you should spend your whole life living in the one place, however remote, you have to also accept the fact that you will miss out on whatever lies elsewhere - be it goods, services or experiences.

      I grew up in an area of high unemployment and no industry. Shortly after leaving school and finding that I could not get a decent job, I put my arse on a plane to Perth. I now have skills and experience earned though work that I can take back to the east coast and guarantee myself employment. I have friends from school who never left town and still struggle. It’s not the governments fault.

      You have to make a choice, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Either go somewhere to get work and have money or stay where you are and have nothing. Simple.

    • St. Michael says:

      04:20pm | 07/09/12

      @ anders: I meant Von Braun, not Von Neumann.  But then people like your always like to try and crucify on the typo and ignore the essay, so that’ll probably go over your head.

      I am referring to the worn-out justification that Aboriginals should get to remain in the arse-end of nowhere because it’s part of their culture or because it is their dreaming, their place of origin.  If the Left wants to try and corral off Aborigines on this pretext - upon which much “native title” supposedly rests - then it needs to stop criticising religious or cultural justifications for the occupation of Palestine by Israel.

    • the cynic says:

      03:12pm | 07/09/12

      I’m white worked and paid taxes all my life from the age of 15 and now at 66 years old, made redundant can’t get a job and have no hope in hell of getting a loan. Why is it all about the Aboriginals? At least I have paid my way in the journey of life. That 25 odd million bucks that gets splurged on such a miniscule percentage of the population certainly seems to be an absolute waste of resources. WTF is going on? Land Cruisers Casks of wine ciggies and beer aren’t that expensive.


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