First Nations Foundation, Australia’s leading Indigenous financial literacy organisation, has launched an online resource to educate and empower young Indigenous Australians to take control of their financial future.
The new platform, TomorrowMoney.co, specifically targets young Indigenous Australians aged 18-30 years old, with a view to setting them up for long-term financial wellbeing.
First Nations Foundation CEO and Wiradjuri man, Phil Usher, said that due to lower levels of financial literacy, young Indigenous people often won’t have a go-to person who can give strong guidance on a range of financial matters.
“Tomorrow Money will have financial content written by Aboriginal people and industry professionals, providing a trusted source of information for young Aboriginal people when making decisions around money,” said Phil.
With a heightened level of financial uncertainty as a result of COVID-19, First Nations Foundation has had to rapidly innovate to ensure it could effectively reach and support young Indigenous Australians during such difficult times and beyond.
Research conducted by First Nations Foundation, in partnership with the Centre for Social Impact and NAB, uncovered an alarming trend; one in two Indigenous people in Australia lives in financial stress, across urban, regional and remote areas.
The research also revealed that in the case of an emergency, Indigenous people are less likely to be able to access $2,000 compared to non-Indigenous people. First Nations Foundation will be working with Indigenous Australians to change that from a young age, through TomorrowMoney.co
“This generation of young Indigenous Australians are the ‘Genesis Generation’, where for the first time, they have the ability, through technology, to learn and grow at the same rate as other Australians,” said Phil.
“For this reason, it was extremely important that we create a format of culturally-relevant, digestible money skills education that will be accessible and free for Indigenous Australians nationwide.”
The new website will feature a diverse range of content with a particular focus on proven tactics and positive experience with money, from the perspective of Indigenous community leaders in the finance, business and professional industries.
Created with the support of Australian Unity Foundation and Indigenous Business Australia, the platform will feature a large range of topics related to achieving and maintaining financial wellbeing, presented with a distinct cultural and age-relevant ‘lifestyle blog’ tone.
First Nations Foundation, which has previously reconnected Indigenous Australians with more than $24 million in superannuation to date through its award-winning Big Super Day Out events, is focused on bridging the financial literacy gap between Indigenous Australians and the wider population.
First Nations Foundation is centred around four strategic focus areas, including education, community, partnership and leadership. The Foundation also offers digital financial literacy training through its MyMoneyDream.com.au initiative, superannuation education platform IndigenousSuper.com.au and the Indigenous Women’s Financial Wellness (IWFW) program.
First Nations Foundation was formed in 2006 by the First Nations Credit Union, teaching financial skills to Indigenous people. For more information, please visit firstnationsfoundation.org.au. For more information on Tomorrow Money, please visit TomorrowMoney.co
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Media contact
Skye Vadas
Greenpoint Media
skye@greenpointmedia.com.au
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Indigenous Business Australia
IBA recently signed a 2-year partnership with First Nations Foundation to deliver on their joint objective for the financial prosperity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. IBA CEO Rajiv Viswanathan noted, “Young people are the future so anything we can do to equip them with the tools for financial wellbeing is critical. Accumulating wealth and financial knowledge can create long term effects for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”
Australian Unity
Australian Unity Executive General Manager for Indigenous Services Ken Markwell said financial knowledge is a powerful tool for prosperity. “Our ongoing commitment across Indigenous communities is supporting economic empowerment – financial literacy and wellbeing is a critical element of that.”
