A coalition of financial counselling, community legal centres and consumer advocacy organisations have welcomed the proposed National Strategy for Food Security in Remote First Nations Communities, but are calling on the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) to strengthen its recommendations to better protect vulnerable residents in remote areas.
The coalition includes Financial Counselling Australia, Mob Strong Debt Help, Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network, CHOICE, Consumer Credit Legal Service Western Australia, and Financial Rights Legal Centre.
Every Australian should be able to access food and groceries at fair and reasonable prices regardless of where they live, but many remote communities face significant challenges in accessing affordable food and groceries. Communities living in remote areas should not be disadvantaged because of their geographical location.
We urge the NIAA to strengthen the Strategy by exploring the role of price caps on essential food and grocery items in consultation with community, recommend a mandate to display prices in store and regulations for informal credit schemes, introduce a price monitoring tool that records historical data that is accessible in real time, consider subsidies for freight across the country and significantly raise the remote allowance payment. These initiatives will work to reduce grocery prices, improve accessibility and help close the gap for First Nations people living in remote communities.
Download the statement (PDF)
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