OP-ED BY SALLY LOANE AND TREVOR PEARCE*: FSC NATIVE TITLE STANDARD
From eco-tourism to mining services, Indigenous Australians are making a significant
contribution to the Australian economy. Yet, 43 per cent of Indigenous Australians remain
financially excluded from mainstream society.
Financial literacy and equal participation in the economy are critical for the empowerment and
wellbeing of all Australians. The development of a sound, sustainable, economic base in any
community is paramount to protect the things that we as a society value and to sustain our
sense of culture and identity.
Two years ago the Financial Services Council (FSC) and First Nations Foundation (FNF) − an
Indigenous organisation − entered into a three-year community alliance partnership to deepen
the financial services sector’s relationship with Indigenous Australia. The first part of this
relationship was to further support Indigenous financial literacy.
My Moola, the FNF’s flagship financial literacy program, was established in 2007 to enable
Indigenous Australians to engage in financial products and services from a position of strength,
both socially and economically, while supporting cultural identity. It is not simply about
“changing you to fit into mainstream” but “learning new skills that will work to support who you
are as an Indigenous person”.
The second part of the goal is building processes that assist in closing economic and knowledge
gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
The outcomes of native title are critical to the economic and cultural future for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander communities. The FSC and FNF have been working in partnership to
promote best practice in the financial services industry. Currently, when traditional owners
receive funds from native title agreements − such as royalties from land use agreements and
joint ventures with resource companies or governments − that money is held in a trust fund and
belongs to traditional owners. The trustee’s role is to manage the money in partnership with
traditional owners to ensure it can benefit them both today and for generations to come.
The FSC’s members often act as professional trustees of native title trusts, helping to manage
the funds in those trusts in the best interests of Indigenous communities. Working closely with
communities, trustees establish the trusts, manage financial investments, and distribute funds to
community beneficiaries. They are accountable and report to communities including through
advisory councils comprised of respected local Elders and key leaders within communities.
While this is sound and professional practice, we recognised that more could be done to align
the provision of financial services with the economic, cultural and social needs of Indigenous
Australians.
In partnership with a widely-respected group of Indigenous leaders and organisations providing
technical knowledge on native title, governance and cultural expertise, the FSC has developed a
Cultural Capability in Native Title Services Standard that will be mandatory for those FSC
members providing native title services to Indigenous communities. The FSC mandates a set of
industry Standards ranging from fund performance reporting to superannuation governance.
FSC trustee members, the FNF, Indigenous Business Australia, the National Congress of
Australia’s First Peoples, the Australian Indigenous Governance Institute, and Nyamba Buru
Yawuru from Broome, WA, worked together to develop the Native Title Standard which aims to
build strong relationships founded on equality, mutual respect, and recognition of the
knowledge and skills gaps which may otherwise get in the way of the best possible relationship
between trustees and communities. By requiring trustees and traditional owners to work
collaboratively towards clear goals, the Standard will encourage tailored, culturally appropriate
financial services so that communities can achieve their economic aspirations.
This Standard requires FSC trustee members to clearly and transparently disclose the services
they provide in plain English and to recognise that English is not always the first language for
many traditional owners. FSC trustees must support Indigenous governance structures and
communities − for example, through delivering appropriate financial literacy and governance
training.
The Standard also helps with capacity and knowledge gaps on both sides. It requires trustees to
undergo their own processes, including ensuring staff who work with communities undertake
cultural competency training; partnering with communities to gain an understanding of their
cultural values, histories and aspirations; and working towards establishing a formal strategy to
develop cultural capability, for instance, through a Reconciliation Action Plan.
Lastly, the Standard requires trustees to adopt inclusive decision-making behaviour and values
when managing native title trusts, including incorporating non-financial considerations, where
possible. This obligation recognises that traditional owners have unique relationships with their
land and seas, as well as governance structures stretching back millennia.
The principles are more than words on paper, they are binding for FSC trustee members, and
require annual sign-off at Board level.
This Standard is being launched in National Reconciliation Week, 27 May to 3 June. These two
dates commemorate key milestones in Australia’s journey of reconciliation—the anniversaries of
the successful 1967 referendum and the landmark 1992 High Court Mabo decision which
overturned the legal fiction of terra nullius and paved the way for recognition of Indigenous
property rights through native title.
The FSC Standard is an example of how we can work in partnership with Indigenous Australians
to ensure they can build a sustainable economic future for their families and communities.
*Sally Loane is CEO of the Financial Services Council and Trevor Pearce is CEO of First Nations
Foundation