Tevita Naroba

Financial stress among Aboriginal Australians is five times higher than amongst non-Aboriginal people.[1] This disparity is exacerbated in remote regions like East Kimberley due to high welfare dependency, limited access to services and high living costs. Consequently, financial stress and poverty levels are significantly heightened.

Key challenges in East Kimberley include social disadvantage, dependency on government benefits, a lack of culturally appropriate employment opportunities, and social issues such as substance abuse stemming from intergenerational trauma. These factors hinder the establishment of good money habits, like the practice of saving.

My research examined potential pathways to enhancing financial wellbeing by exploring the relationships between contemporary money management strategies and traditional cultural knowledge and practices among Indigenous communities in the remote East Kimberley, North West Australia. I conducted my fieldwork across six locations in East Kimberley, which involved 16 interviews with service providers, 10 yarning circles with 38 Indigenous participants and 12 one-on-one interviews with Indigenous participants. The approach was collaborative and inclusive, incorporating cultural perspectives.

My interest in this research stemmed from my background as a financial counsellor, where I have journeyed closely with Indigenous people from across remote outback communities in Tennant Creek, Northern Territory and the East Kimberley. I clearly remember a job interview for a financial counsellor role back in 2015. When asked why I wanted to transition into financial counselling after 20 years in the corporate banking, superannuation and insurance sectors, I replied, “I have not climbed Mount Everest yet, but this decision is not about me; it’s about my people [Pacific Islanders], the Indigenous people of Australia [Aboriginal], and other Indigenous communities around the world.”

As a financial counsellor, I knew I would be working with Indigenous people who are financially vulnerable and face similar challenges to Indigenous people in Fiji. The social relations of cultural obligations in Pacific cultures helped me understand these financial struggles. I shared with the interview panel that my experience in banking and finance had equipped me to support Indigenous people in their money stories. This same passion and motivation I expressed in my job interview led me to my M.Phil research on financial wellbeing.

Factors Influencing Financial Wellbeing

“Rich. Only for the day… then poor the next day. When we get our money we spend it on food, power card, and things, and the next day we have nothing. When we do shopping, we try and make sure it lasts but it does not always.” (Indigenous participant)

“Life is not organised in relation to budgeting their money. When one gets up at any time of the day, finds food where they can, there is no routine, no responsibility to go to school or work, a response to the stimulus that comes in – like a fight with a sister, no set organisation of daily activities. Compared to non-mob who are more use to routine and planning of the day.” (Service Provider participant)

“A good habit is also if my family needs money they’ll ask me for a loan and it’s a good feeling to be able to give it or if someone’s struggling with bills, I’ll be able to assist them which I think is a good habit, it makes me happy to be able to provide and give help. I share and just keep a little bit of money. They are my countrymen; I give to my older people ‘cos I have to look after them; they look after me.” (Indigenous participant)

“The presence of trauma—is another huge contributing factor (and thus impacts on money management). The level of DV [domestic violence] and the level of trauma in our communities, here in the East Kimberley, is huge. People trying to manage money during this, is hard; people are angry—victims, children suffer—more investment is needed here—safe places for them to sleep, mentors and so on.” (Service Provider participant)

The research identified six core factors affecting the financial wellbeing of Indigenous people in East Kimberley:

1. Money Management Practices: Personal barriers limit opportunities to develop consistent saving habits, such as access to a job and cultural practices like sharing resources with family.
2. Income Instability: High dependency on welfare payments and irregular income sources like royalty payouts.
3. Employment Challenges: Limited local opportunities to engage in market income-generating activities.
4. Crisis-Driven Spending: Immediate financial needs often take precedence over long-term planning.
5. Cultural Practice of Demand Sharing: Traditional practices of sharing can conflict with modern money management.
6. Historical Trauma: Historical events have negatively impacted Indigenous people’s relationship with money.

Strategies for Improvement

“Mob do not value money, they focus on what they need at the time; whatever it takes to get that, they will find a way. They do not put money aside to save up. They want what they need right now, there is no value in money for the future. Whether it is $20, $50 or $100, it is all the same.” (Service Provider participant)

“When you are working in the bush, everyone struggles, but most people, as long as there is a roof over their head and family are doing well, then they are not worried about buying a house or things like that; that is their country and as long as the country is healthy, as long as they can get food to survive today and tomorrow, then it’s pretty good. They are not worried about putting money aside for the long term, such as into a superannuation fund.” (Indigenous participant)

“There is no value attached to money—money comes and goes and if you do not have it, then it will come again; a lot of people think well I will just get paid again next week or the week after. The wide majority pay [support] their family first rather than pay the power bill and that is just how it is.” (Service Provider participant)

“You talk to your white family, and they want to buy a house and another house to rent it out to create an income stream. Whereas Mum’s family if someone does not have something [and] for example, a death occurs, then we go over and give money, take tucker and all sit down and talk about how we can help each other. If someone is struggling a bit, then someone might go and drop a fish or some killer off. It is no good me having a full freezer and them having nothing.” (Indigenous participant)

Improving financial wellbeing in a way that aligns with local context and cultural values involves several strategies:

1. Money Management Education: Culturally relatable narratives can foster better money habits by teaching budgeting and savings practices. For instance, likening money to a boomerang or a spear can create an emotional connection and encourage viewing money as a tool rather than just a resource to be consumed immediately.
2. Role Modelling and Goal Setting: Indigenous participants identified that having a savings goal, such as purchasing a house, motivates them to adopt good money habits. Seeing role models within their communities with strong financial wellbeing also encourages emulation of those practices.
3. Managing Demand Sharing: Setting boundaries on demand sharing, a traditional practice, can help individuals save. Strategies include limiting financial support to a few relatives or using special savings accounts to receive automatic deductions from pay, or even state interventions like the Indue card to manage excessive demands. It is important, though, to recognise that demand sharing can also provide a source of financial support.
4. Promoting Financial Literacy: Financial literacy programs must be contextualised and relevant, addressing regular demands and savings goals. These programs should also harness the strength of social relationships to spread awareness and information.
5. Economic Opportunities: Native title determinations are opening up economic opportunities on country, such as tourism enterprises, which can provide sustainable income sources aligned with cultural practices and values.

Recommendations for Policy and Practice

To effectively improve financial wellbeing in East Kimberley Indigenous communities, the following recommendations are made:

1. Trauma-Informed Approach: Financial education and counselling services should be trauma-informed, acknowledging the impact of intergenerational trauma on financial behaviours.
2. Recognition of the Customary Sector: Accepting and accommodating the customary economy within financial management practices is crucial. This sector includes Indigenous exchange practices (demand sharing) as well as subsistence and cultural activities like hunting, fishing, and art, which are integral to Indigenous communities’ cultural and economic life.
3. Culturally Relatable Money Narrative: Developing a culturally relevant money narrative can help Indigenous people better relate to and manage money. This narrative should align with traditional practices and contemporary financial strategies.
4. Financial Wellbeing as a ‘Closing the Gap’ Measure: Including financial wellbeing as a measure in the ‘Closing the Gap’ initiative could help track progress and address the specific challenges Indigenous Australians face in achieving financial stability.
5. Theory of Change: Developing a Financial Wellbeing Theory of Change for East Kimberley can guide the creation and evaluation of programs to improve financial wellbeing, ensuring they are relevant and effective.

In conclusion, addressing financial wellbeing in the East Kimberley requires a detailed but not complicated approach that respects and integrates cultural practices while promoting modern financial management strategies in the context of a hybrid economy,[2] of which the customary sector is integral. By adopting these recommendations, policymakers, service providers, and community stakeholders can work together to close the financial wellbeing gap and enhance the overall wellbeing of Indigenous communities in this remote region.

Photo Credit: Tevita Naroba

Tevy completed his Masters thesis in 2023.

Full Reference.

Naroba, T. (2023). How the Relationships Between Contemporary Money Management Strategies and Cultural Ways of Knowing can be Better Understood to Improve Financial Wellbeing Amongst Indigenous People Living in Remote East Kimberley (North West Australia) Communities. [Unpublished MPhil thesis]. Curtin University.

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References:

[1] Weier, M., Dolan, K., Powell, A., Muir, K., & Young, A. (2019). Money stories: Financial resilience among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Centre for Social Impact, University of New South Wales, Sydney for National Australia Bank.

[2] Altman, J. C. (2001). Sustainable development options on Aboriginal land: The hybrid economy in the twenty-first century. Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, College of Arts & Social Sciences, Australian National University.