Aboriginal economy

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Aboriginal economy: Can it catch up through mining?

For too long Aboriginal economic participation was limited.

Australia’s mining boom opens a unique opportunity for Aboriginal economy to catch up.

Aboriginal economy: Can it catch up through mining?

Aboriginal employment, jobs & careers

Aboriginal unemployment rates are 3 times the non-Aboriginal rates. Some web-based services exclusively list Aboriginal jobs.

Aboriginal employment, jobs & careers

Successful Aboriginal economic developments

Many Aboriginal businesses came to be in the early 2000s, but their success stories are rarely told.

Successful Aboriginal economic developments

Internet access in Aboriginal communities

The internet is yet to reach Aboriginal communities. Very few own a computer and even less are connected.

Internet access in Aboriginal communities

Stolen Wages

From the late 1800s until the 1970s Aboriginal workers were for all intents and purposes enslaved. They were denied access to their wages which in many cases were simply stolen by corrupt officials and employers. It locked them into a cycle of poverty.

Governments and churches have made it difficult to access records and there is a general reluctance to pay the monies withheld.

Stolen Wages

More on this topic:

Repaying Stolen Wages

Stolen Wages Timeline

An economic pathway which starts with education, leading to jobs and being able to participate in business and commerce is my idea of a real future for Indigenous Australians and importantly the means to participate in the mainstream economy.—Ron Morony, General Manager Indigenous Business Australia [1]

Many Aboriginal people are “financially excluded”

A study in 2011 for the first time measured “financial exclusion”, where people lack access to appropriate and affordable financial services and products.

Information must be culturally inclusive to reach Aboriginal people. One way is to produce resources that specifically address them: Note the skin colour and Aboriginal art elements (detail taken from a booklet about superannuation [10]).

The study found that Aboriginal people are over-represented in the ‘fully excluded’ category [7] which means they cannot access a basic transaction account, low rate credit card or basic general insurance.

As a consequence some Aboriginal people struggle with low levels of financial literacy. They have trouble using ATMs and understanding bank balances and fees. In case of an emergency financially excluded people are more likely to turn to unregulated lenders who compound the problem, and they are far more likely to experience social exclusion and financial stress [7]. The tradition of sharing resources among family and relatives puts even more stress on Aboriginal people.

Another problem is that most financial institutions have limited experience in dealing with Aboriginal customers [7] which can create barriers for them. Requirements for proof of identity can pose problems for some Aboriginal people, for example if they are members of the Stolen Generations.

High ATM fees in Aboriginal communities

Food in many Aboriginal communities and homelands is already more expensive than in the bigger cities. Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) add even more to these expenses.

Many communities are serviced by a single ATM, often privately owned [6]. Aboriginal people have to pay up to $10 per transaction or can only withdraw $100 at a time, costing them $5. Some retailers charge $5 for every $50 EFTPOS transaction.

Aboriginal people in remote communities tend to do frequent withdrawals for budgetary reasons and a lack of refrigeration. With an average ATM fee at $2 people can lose up to 20% of their weekly unemployment benefits [6].

“When you are on such a low income and can’t avoid those fees, it’s a large per cent of your income and there’s less money to buy food,” says Fiona Guthrie, executive director of the Australian Financial Counselling and Credit Reform Association [6]. She suggests to abolish all ATM fees for ATMs in Aboriginal communities.

Aboriginal tourism operators

Most tourists coming to Australia want an Aboriginal experience at some point of their travel.

While many non-Indigenous tour operators take care to ensure their information about Aboriginal culture is accurate, authenticity can be enhanced if Aboriginal people provided that information, or better still, Aboriginal people offered tours themselves. Tourism on Aboriginal land often starts with rangers guiding people through the land they know intimately.

One danger of tourism advertising campaigns is that they do not reflect contemporary Aboriginal society, reinforcing the “good stereotypes” people have about Aboriginal culture.

Tourism Australia offers a website where you can search for Aboriginal tours in Australia.

Tour operators had to fulfill a range of criteria to be listed and can now carry the label “Indigenous Tourism Champion”. You can search by experience (e.g. Arts & Culture, Urban), destination or operator. There’s also a small collection of articles on Aboriginal culture.

See aboriginaltourism.australia.com for details.