Financial advice for Aborigines extended

The new Labor government is to extend a service which provides basic financial help and  advice  to  Aboriginal  communities.

The service, known as income management, will be available from today in the Alice Springs town camps or Ingerreke and Amoonguna.

The Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and  Indigenous Affairs, Jennny Macklin, who made the announcement, said the program had already been well received in other  Aboriginal Communities.

“People understand why it is important to have half of their income support payments protected, so that money is used on essential items such as food, rent, medicines and utilities,” she said.

Ms Macklin said Centrelink had already stationed officers in the Alice Springs communities and camps.

They had conducted individual interviews with community members.

The aim was to help their clients understand what income management means and where their money goes.

“Income management is extremely important in helping families manage their government payments to cover essential items and, importantly, also provide for the wellbeing of their children,” Ms Macklin said.

The Labor government picked up the initiative from the previous Howard government, which was worried about the habit of some Aboriginal men, who pooled their social security payments to buy alcohol, instead of meeting their families needs.