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As we celebrate our tenth year of incorporation, Queensland moves into a new era of financial inclusion. We are pleased that one of our guiding philosophies; ‘we can achieve greater social impact in our communities by building strong working relationships with government, industry and community sectors’, is being embraced in Queensland. Looking ahead in 2017 this guiding philosophy will continue to direct our work and shared success.

The announcement of the Queensland Government’s Financial Inclusion Plan in late 2016 was welcomed by ICAN. The three core priorities outlined in the plan align with ICAN’s own mission including:

1. Improving financial literacy and building capabilities
2. Responding directly to financial hardship
3. Driving and integrated whole-of-system response

The NQ Indigenous Consumer Taskforce administered by ICAN is a perfect example of driving an integrated whole-of system response. Taskforce partners including the Queensland Office of Fair Trading (OFT), Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Department of Social Services (DSS), Energy and Water Ombudsman of Queensland (EWOQ), Shelter Housing Action Cairns (SHAC) and the Cairns Community Legal Centre (CCLC) will continue to deliver coordinated responses to systemic issues identified by community service workers and financial counsellors working on the front line.

ICAN plans to develop specialised elective financial literacy units with Taskforce partners with a view to the continual improvement of our successful Yarnin’ Money training program. Taskforce partners also plan to expand the Do-Not-Knock Town initiative in 2017, following the initial success of the original Wujal Wujal initiative established to stop detrimental rogue trader behaviour.

The development of our subsidiary social enterprise training organisation, ‘ICAN Learn’ is on track to becoming registered by mid 2017 and plans to run our first Commonwealth Bank sponsored Indigenous Financial Counselling Mentorship Program as a registered training organisation this year. The Commonwealth Bank’s sponsorship of the program has expanded to include scholarships for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups. It is planned that the inaugural CALD Financial Counselling Mentorship Program will be delivered in Victoria, in partnership with the state’s peak financial counselling body, Financial and Consumer Rights Council (FCRC).

It is an exciting time for ICAN and we look forward to working with all our partners in 2017, together we can make a real impact.

As we come to an end of another year, we reflect on how ICAN has carried out our mission of Empowering Indigenous Consumers, over the last twelve months…

In partnership with the Wujal Wujal community, ICAN and members of the North Queensland Indigenous Consumer Taskforce commenced the year with the launch of Australia’s first Do-Not-Knock town, unveiling roadside signage designed to minimise consumer harm from unlawful door-to-door trade. The signage, placed on both entrances into the Cape York community, reminds door-to-door traders they have legal obligations to consumers and can’t approach houses displaying do-not-knock notices. It was a significant achievement for the Taskforce, demonstrating its belief that a collective impact approach (in consumer organisation / community / regulator relationships) can be an effective way to identify and address systemic issues being experienced by remote Indigenous communities. It piloted an innovative approach to combat consumer exploitation often occurring in remote communities. The historic partnership between Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council and Taskforce members received national media attention and was aired on Channel 10, ABC and NITV News. The coverage sent a strong message to viewers of the need to understand and assert your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.

This year also marked the graduation of fifteen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students through our ‘Indigenous Financial Counselling Mentorship Program’, achieving their Diploma of Financial Counselling.  This was a significant achievement for the students, who traveled from across Australia – from Kempsey (NSW), Ceduna (SA), Melbourne (VIC), Cairns and Mornington Island (QLD), Alice Springs and Darwin (NT) – to participate in the 18-month program. Over the duration of the program, we introduced the Mentorship Program students to E-News readers as they progressed through their Diploma studies. When ICAN and our partner the Commonwealth Bank set out to increase the number of Indigenous financial counsellors throughout Australia, there were less than a handful, this year we officially increased that number tenfold. The impacts of this achievement are found in the increase of culturally competent financial counselling and literacy services being delivered in some of Australia’s most disadvantaged regions.

In July, our Townsville office celebrated its first year of operation. ICAN opened its doors in Townsville on July 1^st, 2015, amidst a landscape where economic stability had significantly shifted due to increased unemployment rates and personal insolvencies. ICAN responded to the increasingly high demand for financial counselling services by providing 2.5 financial counsellors to service the region. These factors coupled with a drop in the housing market resulted in a significant level of complex casework for the financial counselling team, with one case resulting in an approximate half million-dollar windfall for the client.

This year, we commenced our journey towards creating our social enterprise – ICAN Learn – exploring the creation of a registered training organisation (RTO) to expand our successful Yarnin’ Money and Indigenous Financial Counselling Mentorship Programs. ICAN aims to support the sector with the creation of a registered training organisation ‘social enterprise’ committed to the training and professional development of the financial wellbeing sector, including financial counselling, capability, resilience and emergency relief workers. ICAN linked up with Social Ventures Australia, the University of Queensland MBA program, Deloitte and Gilbert & Tobin to assist with the business planning process.  We look forward to reporting on our progress in early 2017.

2016 was a busy year for the Yarnin’ Money team, who delivered financial literacy and capability training to seven groups across the Western Cape York region, including Rio Tinto employees, as part of their employment induction training. The team was also invited to Auckland, New Zealand, to participate in the conference “Exploring cultural perceptions of money and wealth”, hosted by the Financial Education Centre at Massey University. The Yarnin’ Money team delivered a presentation and workshop on how to use narrative approaches in delivering financial literacy education to Indigenous peoples. Our workshops were well received as a platform for the exchange of ideas and Indigenous worldviews. For Alexander Stevens from the New Zealand Commission for Financial Capability, the Workshop provided a platform for the exchange of ideas and Indigenous worldviews. “I was invited into a sacred space of learning. I was humbled by the team at ICAN who openly shared indigenous worldviews with our Australian counterparts which was a beautiful spiritual experience. To see the framework being used to enable and empower Aboriginal people to create a space where financial literacy and capability can occur is truly amazing,” he said.

ICAN’s is part of the state and national financial counselling community, which – in Queensland over the past 5 years – has struggled to meet the increasing need for financial counselling services with the loss of state funding.  To give a broader perspective of what this looks like on the ground, Queensland has 34 full time equivalent financial counsellors to respond to financial hardship across the state, compared to 170 FCs in New South Wales, and 150 in Victoria. With a view to turning this situation around and supporting our community, ICAN made a significant human resource commitment to the sector, through the provision of senior representation on the Financial Counselling Association of Queensland (FCAQ) management committee: Jon O’Mally (President), Ronald Fave (Treasurer) and Unaisi Buli (Executive Member). The tireless work and lobbying of the state peak body led to the announcement of a new Financial Resilience Program by the Queensland Palaszczuk government in early 2016, that incorporated the reinstatement of funding for financial counselling.

Later in the year, we watched Eddie convey ICAN’s message on how to deal with direct marketing, in his television appearance on ABC’s consumer affairs program ‘The Checkout’. You can watch Eddie deliver his “If I Could Say One Thing” message to mitigate high pressure sales from door-to-door traders here.

Issues affecting Indigenous Consumers in 2016…

In March, ICAN was pleased to see the Federal Court order Chrisco Hampers Australia Ltd (Chrisco) to pay a pecuniary penalty of $200,000 for making a false or misleading representation that customers could not cancel a lay-by agreement after making their final payment, under Chrisco’s then-HeadStart Plan.  ICAN brought the matter to the attention of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in 2014, after a number of Palm Island clients expressed they were experiencing financial hardship as a result of making (or attempting to make) large fortnightly payments to Chrisco, some lasting several years.

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In October, The Federal Court found that a Cairns-based lender, Mr Colin William Hulbert sole director of Channic Pty Ltd (Channic) and Cash Brokers Pty Ltd (Cash Brokers) breached consumer credit protection laws.  Mr Hulbert provided loans at 48% interest through Channic to vulnerable Indigenous consumers for the purchase of second hand cars from Super Cheap Car Sales, a company that he also owned. The high interest loans were arranged through Mr. Hulbert’s brokerage company Cash Brokers for a brokerage fee of either $550 or $990, which were also financed under the loans.

Channic and Cash Brokers had breached responsible lending laws under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (National Credit Act) and engaged in unconscionable conduct, where loan contracts were found to be unjust transactions. The Court also held Mr Hulbert personally liable, stating that: Cash Brokers and Channic were no more than wafer thin transparent membranes between the consumer and Mr Hulbert. Nathan Boyle of ASIC’s Indigenous Outreach Program noted that what makes this case unique is that “witnesses from the Aboriginal community of Yarrabah provided direct statements to the court, greatly assisting with the Federal Courts findings. The witnesses should really be congratulated for making a stand. The relationships and trust that we built in Yarrabah throughout the course of the proceedings is something that we’re keen to replicate in future enforcement activities.”

ICAN brought the conduct to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s attention, as our financial counsellors witnessed many people suffering financial hardship as a result of loans they had taken out with Channic. ICAN has assisted ASIC in gathering evidence leading up to the case, over  many years during this long-standing matter.

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ABCF payments via Centrepay to cease

Following on from the May 22^nd, 2015 announcement by Minister for Human Services Senator the Hon Marise Payne, that funeral insurances would be excluded from the Centrepay system, the beginning of 2016 marked the half-way point for the 12 month transition period for existing contracts to be phased out of the system (July 1^st, 2015 – July 1^st, 2016). ICAN was pleased to hear that funeral insurances were to be excluded from the welfare recipient payment system, having joined the consumer movement in its steadfast advocacy for changes to the Centrepay system.

Over 2016, we watched the story continue to unfold. In May 2016, the Aboriginal Community Benefit appealed the decision to exclude funeral insurance from the Centrepay system. On July 5^th, 2016, it was reported that the appeal was upheld, with the Federal Court highlighting ‘the inadequacy of legislation supporting Centrepay and welfare payments in protecting vulnerable recipients’*. As consumer advocates, we worried for how this decision would continue to impact upon Indigenous peoples, where many are already struggling to meet basic living expenses on limited incomes.

By mid-November, we were relieved to hear the news that ‘an Appeal Court decision was made to allow the Commonwealth to ban’ the funeral insurance provider from being able to access the Centrepay system**.  We saw the decision arising from the Centrelink appeal as a win for increased consumer protection for Indigenous centrelink recipients.

Centrelink will support affected customers in their transition to new arrangements. Any remaining Centrepay deductions will cease from February 17, 2017.

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Thank you for following us on our journey through 2016, and see you in the New Year!

*Taylor, J. (2016).’ACBF: Consumer advocates disappointed by Federal Court decision on Aboriginal funeral insurance.’ July 5. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-05/federal-court-aboriginal-community-benefit-fund-funeral-insuranc/7570508.

**McLeish, K. (2016). ‘ACBF: Aboriginal funeral insurance provider banned from Centrepay system following Appeal Court win.’ November 15. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-15/acbf-banned-from-centrepay-system-following-centrelink-win/8027936.

ICAN had the pleasure of hosting Professor Jerry Buckland from the Canadian University of Winnipeg last month. Professor Buckland stopped in Cairns as part of an international study tour of Australia and New Zealand, exploring developments in Financial Inclusion and Indigenous Natural Resource Partnerships. ICAN CEO Aaron Davis and Director Bob Frazer – CEO of Cape York Natural Resource Management took the Professor on a four-day tour of Cape York to meet with the Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council, Laura Rangers and David Claudie, CEO of the Chuulangun Aborignal Corporation near Lockhart River.

Aaron caught up with Jerry after their Cape York tour to get his thoughts and learnings from the journey so far:

What are some of the differences or similarities between how Canada and Australia each approach Financial Literacy and methods for inclusion?

From what I have observed, I am struck by two major differences in the approach to financial literacy and inclusion in Canada and Australia: the level of integration in the model and the level of collaboration among stakeholders.

First, I think that financial literacy (or financial capability) is more closely integrated with financial inclusion in Australia as compared with Canada. It seems to be well understood in Australia that literacy is one piece, albeit an important one, within a bigger approach to engagement with vulnerable people that includes recognition that institutions for inclusion matter. In Australia it seems to be broadly accepted that for improved financial well-being what is needed is improved literacy and better institutions such as appropriate and safe bank products. In Canada this more integrated understanding is accepted within certain sectors of civil society, but not widely embraced by the state or the banking sector. There are some elements in government and banking, particularly certain credit unions, who would embrace this more holistic approach. The Australian Financial Inclusion Action Plan is a very recent and tangible example of this. I am not aware of a similar plan in Canada.

A second major difference, and alluded to above, is the greater harmony among various stakeholders working for financial well-being in Australia as compared with Canada. Again the Financial Inclusion Action Plans is a tangible example of this. It includes a broad cross-section of stakeholders including from the state, civil society and banking sectors. And these stakeholders seem to agree that what is required is a comprehensive approach that includes financial literacy and inclusion to enable vulnerable people’s financial well-being. In Canada the concept of financial empowerment has gained considerable traction among civil society and seems to have attracted some limited support from the state and banking sectors. However, the state and industry continue to look at financial well-being primarily through the financial literacy lens, and thus a tension among stakeholders persists.

What did you think about ICAN’s Yarnin’ Money program?
ICAN’s Yarnin’ Money is very impressive and I would like to learn more about it. As I understand it the methodology focuses on facilitation, dialogue, photos, and narrative rather than teaching and presentation. In Canada I think that there is a growing realization that the classroom presentation may have a role in some cases, but generally speaking it does not affect people emotively, and therefore will likely not empower or motivate them. I was impressed when Eddie shared that the program begins with his honest sharing about some of his own financial struggles in the past. To learn that the facilitator has struggled with money in the past, I think, would be very empowering for participants who might feel ashamed or embarrassed about their own financial problems. Encouraging participants to share their stories, to use photos to represent a financial situation, to use of the timeline to ‘make sense of the world’, and to carefully and gently facilitate the group to keep it focused on topic, are all impressive components of the approach. I was particularly struck when Eddie talked about the ‘sad stories’ that participants share and how these difficult stories about finances can be the foundation for better group dynamics and important learning.

What are you planning to do with your learnings from Australia and New Zealand?

I think that there are many important things happening in Australia with respect to financial inclusion that we in Canada could benefit from. I hope to share what I’ve learned with people in Canada and I hope that I can encourage more interaction between our two countries. One tangible thing I plan to do is to use material that I have collected here in Australia in a book that I am working on, entitled Financialization and Human Development, which studies how money is increasingly moving to the centre of how we think of human development. I plan to include discussions of: ICAN’s Yarnin’ Money, the ‘Australian model’ of financial inclusion [including reference to the Financial Inclusion Action Plans], Commonwealth Bank’ Indigenous Customer Assistance Line (ICAL), and Good Shepherd Micro Finance’s NILS and Good Money Store.

A second goal I have is to encourage more interaction between Canadians and Australians engaged in financial inclusion work. This is challenging because of the distance between our countries and the associated travel costs. One Canadian venue for this interaction is the Asset Building Learning Exchange (ABLE) that happens once every two years and will take place in the fall 2017. It would be great to have some Australians present at this event and so we need to investigate funding sources for this. Finally, it would be very helpful to get some Canadians from civil society, banks, and government to visit various organizations and learn about these projects first hand. This might be most transformative for Canadian bankers.

What was the highlight of your stay in North Queensland? 

Learning about ICAN and the Cape York Natural Resource Management Inc. and visiting Cairns and the Cape York area were highlights of my trip to Australia. But the greatest highlight was making new friends and colleagues with people with common interests and experiences who are half-a-world-away. I was blown away by the warmth, kindness, and generosity of the folks that I met and interacted with in Cairns and Cape York. I felt as if I had come home!

Do you see possibilities for information sharing between Canada and Australia in the future?

Absolutely, information sharing would be very beneficial, and I wonder how can we foster this? We need to get more people visiting projects in the ‘other’ country (i.e., Can to Aus; Aus to Can). We need funds to enable this. I wonder if there are some electronic mechanisms we can put in place to promote mutual learning. That might make people realize the mutual benefits from the interaction.

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The ICAN family would like to thank Jerry for including us on his tour and Michelle Crawford for the connection. We look forward to exploring ways to work with Jerry on building an international community of best practice.

If I could say one thing, the video age has well and truly arrived for ICAN. Sharing our story has always been important. The E-News you’re now reading for example has been released every month without fail for more than ten years.

Building a national network that supports Indigenous consumers from a regional center has required an ongoing evaluation of our communications strategy. In recent years ICAN has worked on developing our video production capabilities to the point where we’re now supplying footage and news packages to production companies and television news outlets (see below).

ICAN recently had the opportunity to write and film a short piece for The Checkout’s ‘If I could say one thing’ segment on ABC (see below). ICAN CEO, Aaron Davis explains, “The ability for an organisation to shoot and upload footage into the cloud, then have it used by a news outlet or TV show is mind blowing. This ability has become increasingly important in regional Australia, as mainstream media production budgets have decreased, making travel a luxury.”

“Increased Internet speeds, reduced production gear costs and the rise of social media, including video sharing website YouTube has democratised the world of video production and broadcast, said Mr. Davis. What you would have once spent on a professional promotional or educational video on DVD, you can now get a basic video production kit and editing software/computer and start cranking out hundreds of videos through social media.”

For ICAN the focus isn’t about going ‘viral’, it’s about making content that informs and hopefully entertains our community. ‘Tried speed dating? How about debt dating?’ created by the Financial Rights Legal Centre in this months E-News, is a great example of this.

“I believe the Australian financial counselling and consumer advocacy community has come along way in producing great content, it just needs to do better job now at sharing our messages through the collective power of our organisational and employee social networks”, said Mr. Davis

ICAN’s video facility will be in full swing over the coming year, producing education and promotional videos for our Yarnin’ Money financial literacy program and our newly developed registered training organisation ICAN Learn. “We are only just scratching the surface of possibilities in this space and are exploring opportunities to work with other organisations to produce engaging content”, said Mr. Davis.

ICAN has an exciting new venture underway that will increase professional development opportunities in the national financial counselling, capability and resilience sectors.

Bernadette Pasco, ICAN’s newly appointed Business & Sector Development Manager will lead the development of ‘ICAN Learn’, the working title of a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) ‘Social Enterprise’ that will open for business in the first half of 2017.

“ICAN Learn will deliver accredited courses that support the career pathway of a financial capability or resilience worker moving all the way through to a financial counsellor and beyond, developing additional career pathways to higher education”, said Ms. Pasco.

Accredited courses on offer will include the Certificate 3 skill set in financial literacy education, Diploma in Financial Counselling and a Diploma level skill set in professional supervision that will eventually be incorporated into an Advanced Diploma in Financial Counselling.

Speaking on the professional supervision skill set, Bernadette explained, “Ever since professional supervision frameworks have been included in the National Standards for Membership and Accreditation, the financial counselling sector has looked forward to having its own training and opportunities to develop these skills, the ICAN professional supervision train the trainer course will be the first of its kind for the sector.”

ICAN CEO Aaron Davis said, “I’m absolutely thrilled to have Bernadette’s many years of financial counselling and vocational education and training (VET) sector experience on the team. We share a vision of building an RTO that innately understands the financial counselling, capability and resilience sectors.”

“We are also really excited about creating an RTO and working with financial counsellors that have training expertise in all states and territories, to deliver education in a way that is meaningful, regionally based and supports existing services, said Mr.Davis.”

ICAN will leverage current sponsorship arrangements with Financial Literacy Australia and the Commonwealth Bank to build on the success of our financial literacy program, Yarnin’ Money and Indigenous Financial Counselling Mentorship Program by creating the RTO, ‘Social Enterprise’, whose eventual profits will support much needed Indigenous consumer advocacy, financial counselling and resilience services.

ICAN has linked up with Social Ventures Australia, University of Queensland MBA program, Deloitte and Gilbert & Tobin (law firm) to develop a comprehensive business plan, that includes extensive market research, financial modeling and the development of a legal framework that supports our ‘Social Enterprise’ business model.

For more information on ICAN’s new venture, contact Bernadette on 0488229133 or email bernadette.pasco@ican.org.au.

In the lead up to our 2016 Indigenous Financial Counselling Mentorship Program Graduation, we feature two students of its “Indigenous Financial Counselling Mentorship Program” in every edition of the ICAN E-News. In Part 6 of the series, we meet Eddie Buli from ICAN (QLD) and Deb Wright from the Kempsey Neighbourhood Centre (NSW).

Deb Wright has been working as a No Interest Loans (NILS) Coordinator at the Kempsey Neighbourhood Centre in Northern New South Wales. Deb’s NILS work and working alongside financial counsellors, piqued her interest in the financial counselling profession. Since commencing in the Mentorship Program, Deb has been progressively moving into a financial counselling role, where she practices one day a week in addition to her NILS work.

Eddie Buli, Business Development Officer at ICAN, was interested in taking the Mentorship Program to aid his work in developing and delivering ICAN’s Yarnin’ Money financial literacy outreach program. As the end of the 2015-16 program draws closer, ICAN spoke to Deb and Eddie about their experiences during the course, thus far.

ICAN:     What has been your experience so far through the Mentorship Program? 

Deb:       I have thoroughly enjoyed participating in the Mentorship Program. I’ve learned new skills and gained confidence from the trainers/lecturers and fellow students who have been supportive throughout the program.

Eddie:    It has been many years since I last undertook any type of studies and not knowing what I was throwing myself into played on one’s self-esteem. A month leading up to the to my first Mentorship Block I remember getting excited thinking about meeting new people from different organisations, different experiences, different stories and from different parts of Australia. As the Mentorship Blocks came the assessments became more intense in relation to gaining fresh information towards becoming a financial counsellor. With these new learnings I started to grasp a better understanding and appreciation of the immense work, time and effort that my colleagues undertake in their positions as financial counsellors at ICAN. Whether it’s a win or loss, what I see matters – it’s about the battle towards addressing financial issues, consumer issues and rights on behalf of our ICAN clients.

ICAN:     Describe – How has the Mentorship Program assisted you in your own work?

 Deb:       The program has assisted me to be able to empower my clients – to know where to find the right information and having the tools to be able to work towards a better outcome for their financial situations.

Eddie:    Being a part of a team in designing possible solutions and ways towards providing information and addressing the issues from an Indigenous perspective. The Mentorship Program has started to build that foundation that is needed to assist my role in conducting the Yarnin’ Money Program. It’s no use walking the walk if you can’t talk the talk. Learnings from the program, our lecturers, my fellow students and colleagues gives the position of a financial counsellor meaning to me. During the Mentorship Program I’ve been gaining and growing with this new knowledge. I’ve become more confident in understanding the language of a financial counsellor in a financial and consumer world and speaking more informatively not only on the materials of Yarnin’ Money but when presenting at meetings, forums and conferences in relation to the financial literacy and consumer issues.

ICAN:     What kind of personal and/or professional benefits has the Mentorship Program provided you with?

Deb:       The program has provided me with the information and skills to be able to better assist my clients, knowledge in where to refer people to appropriate services, and working towards the best outcomes, so clients are not left in vulnerable situations.

Eddie:    Some of the benefits from the Mentorship Program is ascertaining this new knowledge of the profession and the realm of a financial counsellor. Through this comes with and for our clients is getting in the know of the different and developing supporting skills required, utilising various strategies, being mindful of your own well-being, having a strong familiarity of the relevant legislations, identifying and understanding the non-government, government agencies, regulatory bodies for referrals in hopefully assisting a positive outcome on behalf of our clients.

ICAN:     What has been your experience in doing the course with other Indigenous students?

Deb:       Meeting and networking with other Aboriginal students has been really positive for me. It’s been a great experience to learn about their communities and how they are helping their communities.

Eddie:    It has been an immense pleasure to meet the other Indigenous students in the Mentorship Program. From our time spent together during our Blocks we have formed a pretty tight supportive group from our yarns, sorry business and laughs. Cairns being the host town for the training I’ve tried to make that extra effort and good pasin (fashion/custom) to lookout for my Sisters and Brothers whilst they are away from their homes and loved ones. I know if I’m ever passing through their country I’ve made new friends to seek advice from to assist me with my travels.

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The Mentorship program provides nationally accredited training through the Diploma of Community Services (Financial Counselling), and offers personal and academic mentorship in a supported learning environment, connecting students through face-to-face classroom and weekly online training sessions. It reflects the growing number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples working in the financial counselling and capability sector, with nine financial capability workers, six financial counsellors and one financial literacy trainer currently participating in the 2015-2016 program.

The second national Mentorship program commenced in July, bringing together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory.  The program is delivered in partnership with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, who sponsors scholarships for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student participants to successfully undertake the Diploma of Community Services (Financial Counselling). The Commonwealth Bank Mentorship Program Scholarships cover the full course fees for the Diploma.

Student participants of the Mentorship Program met in Cairns this week for the counselling component of the program, and are expected to graduate in early June 2016.

Earlier this month ICAN Services Manager, Bettina Addo headed to Darwin to participate in the Indigenous Focus Day preceding the fourth Broadband for the Bush Forum.  The day was run by the Indigenous Remote Communications Association (IRCA) and facilitated by Christine Ross.  The Indigenous Forum addressed four key themes of: awareness, affordability, accessibility and appropriateness.

Ms. Addo presented in the affordability section of the day, discussing phone contracts, hidden costs, subscriptions and data usage. “I also spoke about ICAN’s financial literacy program Yarnin’ Money that addresses the communications complaints we often see as financial counsellors”, said Ms. Addo. “Fellow delegates commented that there was a huge need in their regions for consumer education in this space.”

“One of the biggest learnings for me was how poor access and the high cost per gigabyte are impacting on Indigenous people trying to navigate their way in a modern learning environment in remote Western Australian and Northern Territory,” said Ms. Addo.  “Some delegates explained that they are yet still to receive mobile coverage in their communities.”

Solutions that addressed issues identified in the key theme breakout sessions were gathered to be presented at the main forum on the next day of the Braoadband for the bush forum by Christine Ross.  ICAN would like to thank the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) and the Indigenous Remote Communications Association for an opportunity to attend and contribute in this important event, and we look forward to hearing about future directions in this space.

Our consumer advocacy work continues to yield significant outcomes for Indigenous consumers. A number of court matters and enforcement activities came to fruition this year, due to ICAN alerting consumer regulators of systemic consumer detriment experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in remote Queensland communities. Enforcement action was taken by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, (ASIC) and the Australian Competition Consumer Commission (ACCC) against many companies in this financial year, including: Excite Mobile, Titan Marketing, Mr Rental, Home Essentials Australia Pty Ltd, I Love My Water Pty Ltd, Triple Bay Group Pty Ltd and Triple Bay Pty Ltd. The enforcement activities by ASIC and the ACCC are significant wins for the protection of Indigenous consumers.

The Indigenous Consumer Outreach Project helped extend our reach into remote Queensland communities in 2014. The outreach program, funded through an enforceable undertaking that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission presented to Home Essentials Ltd. has provided the opportunity for consumer education and promotion activities in Wujal Wujal, Northern Peninsula Area, Lockhart River and Kowanyama.  The project also resourced the administration of the Far North Queensland Consumer Taskforce that includes ASIC, ACCC, QLD Office of Fair Trading and new members from the Energy, Water Ombudsman Scheme, Shelter Housing Action Cairns (SHAC) and Cairns Community Legal Centre (CCLC).

The Yarrabah Aboriginal community made a complaint to ICAN about the financial detriment caused by door-to-door selling practices undertaken by third party charity fundraisers (Chugging). ICAN was instrumental in bringing the ABC 7:30 Report to the Yarrabah Aboriginal community (located 45 min south of Cairns) to witness these issues first hand. The news feature “Charity door knockers preyed upon poor outback community” aired on the ABC 7:30 Report, on May 21, 2014.

To further our vision of ‘Empowering Indigenous Consumers’, ICAN has prioritised the professional development of Indigenous financial counselling/capability staff working in community organisations throughout Australia. 2014 saw the success of ICAN’s first national Indigenous Financial Counselling Mentorship Program with ten Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from Alice Springs (NT), Derby (WA), Penrith Western Sydney, Port Augusta (SA), Cairns (QLD) and the Yarrabah Aboriginal community (QLD) graduating with their Diploma of Community Services (Financial Counselling). The ongoing support of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia has allowed ICAN to expand the scope of the program and offer 24 Scholarships in 2015.

Addressing structural consumer disadvantage in remote Indigenous communities is an ongoing focus for ICAN. One growing area of concern for Indigenous consumers in remote communities is the affordability of electricity and service/concessional rebate inequalities. In 2013/2014 ICAN’s research team was contracted by the Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) to investigate the use of Power Box Meters and Power Cards in some of Queensland’s remote Indigenous communities. One of the findings of the report was a very low awareness and uptake of government-funded electricity concessions.

The research was instrumental in informing the Queensland Government’s decision to offer government-funded Electricity Rebates to powercard customers in remote communities, as offered to other mainstream residents. ICAN is now working with QCOSS and the government in an advisory capacity towards the implementation of the new initiative.

ICAN, Ergon Energy, Energy & Water Ombudsman of Queensland (EWOQ) and Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council have developed ‘Get Back on Track’; a pilot energy savings program for residents in Yarrabah struggling with their electricity bills. The first step in the program was to identify why Yarrabah residents have such high bills. Unlike most towns that have off-peak tariff options to reduce electricity costs, the majority of Yarrabah residents only have one, tariff 11; the highest cost tariff.

10 high-energy use homes signed up to the pilot program. An electrician will upgrade wiring to allow additional tariff options on meters at pilot program homes. Appliance energy use assessment will be conducted in the pilot homes and energy efficient appliances (white goods) will be supplied through the No Interest Loans Scheme, where needs are identified.

All homes commit to participating in money management and energy smart education workshops to assist in the management of existing debt and reduce the costs of future electricity bills. Both workshops will be backed by one-on one ongoing financial counselling support. Watch this space in 2015.

A strategic priority for ICAN in 2014 was the further development of tailored financial literacy programs including, iHome, Accidental Financial Counsellor (re-named Yarnin’ Money – Service Provider) and Yufla Junga (re-named Yarnin’ Money Resident).

ICAN continued to develop and deliver iHome in Yarrabah and Palm Island as part of its overall money management services. Highlights of the iHome program include Yarrabah’s first homeowner on Indigenous land and the developed partnership with Queensland Government’s Home Ownership Team (HOT) to deliver similar services in other remote communities.

The Indigenous Consumer Outreach project provided an opportunity for ICAN to develop and trial its Accidental Financial Counsellor re-named Yarnin’ Money (Service Provider) financial literacy program for service providers in selected communities throughout Cape York and the Torres Strait Islands. Local service providers noted that when a client presented with cases relating to mental health & family support, financial issues were consistently part of the presenting problem(s). Providers also noted that prior to ICAN’s outreach & training, they were less confident to address the client’s financial issues.

ICAN partnered with PVS Workfind to develop a financial counselling and literacy education program Yufla Junga re-named Yarnin’ Money (Resident) for jobseekers and recently employed people in the Yarrabah/Cairns region.  The training is designed for jobseekers to access information on consumer rights, personal finance management and direct pathways to financial counselling.  Over seven months since the initial pilot, ICAN has delivered five workshops to job seekers.

The hard work in the development of our suite of financial literacy programs paid off, with recent funding being granted by Financial Literacy Australia to expand the Yarnin’ Money (Service Provider & Resident) programs, that will be delivered in some of Queensland’s most socio-economically disadvantaged communities over the next 3 years.

I would like to thank our dedicated staff for continuing to excel in a year of sector funding uncertainty, a testament to their commitment and belief in ICAN’s culture and vision. In reviewing the year that was, I believe we have achieved our goal of putting ICAN in the best possible position for ongoing success. Let’s look forward to a rewarding new year.

Aaron Davis – ICAN CEO