Learning About the Money-Story through Stories, Art and Silences

Indigenous people are amongst the most financially excluded community in Australia i.e. lack access to safe, affordable and appropriate financial services (Connolly et al 2013). Though most have access to a bank account, a disproportionately high percentage is ‘under-banked’ i.e. lacks access to financial products and services from mainstream providers, relying instead on the informal or alternative finance sector for their financial needs. Collaborative, cross-sectoral efforts by the government, industry and community to improve Indigenous financial inclusion have not yielded much success. Literature on money and financial management in Indigenous Australia is patchy, with few studies focusing on how Indigenous people themselves understand, want to use and manage money. Banking policy and product design in Australia are heavily influenced by middle-income, ‘Anglo-Celtic’ (non-Indigenous) understandings of money. Using a research paradigm which privileges Indigenous understandings, we examine the cultural shaping of money in remote Indigenous communities i.e. study ‘Indigenous money’. The Indigenous research paradigm, and associated Indigenous research methodologies allow us to ‘see’ money through the eyes of our Indigenous participants. We find that it is as important to listen to our partici