First Nations Foundation’s Financial Wellness Week 2024
First Nations Foundation continues community event series to empower people and families with financial wellbeing
Australia’s leading Indigenous financial literacy organisation, First Nations Foundation, is continuing it’s family-friendly financial outreach community event series to educate and empower Indigenous Australians to take control of their financial future.
The initiative, Financial Wellness Week, is a series of outreach and educational events which will travel across Australia to engage with communities, with the next events taking place in Townsville and Palm Island from the 23rd – 26h July. Attendees can access a range of free financial services and workshops, as part of a financial wellness hub covering tax, Centrelink support, superannuation and banking issues and more, while also enjoying a free barbecue lunch and an opportunity to connect and yarn about positive money habits.
According to First Nations Foundation, Indigenous Australians have had very little opportunity to manage their own money. Being paid in rations and experiencing stolen wages and extremely low income has resulted in significantly low levels of financial education. While there are more Indigenous people gainfully employed than ever before, and with that accruing decent salaries, most First Nations individuals still don’t have access to a trusted source of information, or are too ashamed to ask for help around money topics. This diminishes the opportunity to create intergenerational wealth and is at the core of why First Nations Foundation exists.
First Nations Foundation, which has previously reconnected Indigenous Australians with more than $28 million in superannuation to date through its award-winning outreach events, is focused on bridging the financial literacy gap between Indigenous Australians and the wider population.
Financial Wellness Week takes a holistic approach to providing financial services to the community, acting as a point of contact for First Nations people to access a hub of financial literacy workshops and break-out sessions with selected industry providers and government departments.
A culturally appropriate delivery of financial information is at the pinnacle of First Nations Foundation’s values, says CEO Phil Usher.
“Culture is at the heart of everything we do, from our online financial literacy programs like My Money Dream, to events like Financial Wellness Week. Understanding the Indigenous perception and experience of money and family responsibilities can only be gained through lived experiences. All our training and content is written and delivered by Mob, for Mob,” said Phil.
Participants should bring along photo ID and any documents they have related to their finances such as outstanding debts, overdue bills, tax documents and bank statements in order to get the most out of Financial Wellness Week.
