“Wealth’’ is about community and culture

Through support networks and modern storytelling, First Nations Australians are gradually regaining their financial independence

Financial wellness is important to all of us. But just one in 10 one First Nations people reports being financially secure compared to one in two non-Indigenous Australians.

That’s not surprising. Indigenous Australians have faced – and still face – significant hurdles in achieving financial security.

Land dispossession and stolen wages are just some of the challenges confronting Indigenous people. (As recently as the mid-1960s many Indigenous workers were paid in rations and those who were paid a wage often received a third of non-Indigenous pay.)

It has left a legacy that sees many First Nations people with little control over their money, no ability to build wealth and few opportunities to grow intergenerational wealth.

We also have unique cultural attitudes to wealth. A 2019 survey by the University of NSW’s Centre for Social Impact in conjunction with the First Nations Foundation asked Indigenous Australians what it means to be “wealthy”. The responses confirmed that, far from owning a home or having a small fortune in super, wealth among Indigenous Australians is a metaphor for family, community and culture. Money provides the means to care for family and community. As a guide, one survey participant felt that being rich would enable them to “look after the community – because the community looks after me”.