Mossman elder helps take up fight in wake of Youpla collapse
Funeral fund relief sought
Mossman elder Daphne Naden is among several far north Queensland indigenous representatives who met with senior Federal Government ministers in Canberra calling for longer term financial relief for all policyholders of the failed funeral fund, Youpla.
Last week the Federal Government announced a $4M package, expected to assist around 500 fund members to bury their loved ones with cultural dignity. The assistance package will cover current fund members only until November 30, 2023.
Members of the Save Sorry Business coalition which includes the consumer advocate Choice, the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS), Anglicare and several other non-government organisations have held exhaustive meetings with members from both sides of politics and Treasury officials in Canberra.
They said the assistance package is only the first step, and an acknowledgement of the impact that Youpla (formerly known as the Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund, ACBF) had upon the social and emotional welling being of more than 30,000 First Nations People across Australia, including more than 2,200 policy holders registered in Cairns, Mossman, Yarrabah, parts of the Cape, Mareeba, Kuranda and Tully.
“I have been personally impacted by the collapse of ACBF and it is causing me anxiety and stress because of my age,” Ms Naden said.
“I am going to Canberra to be a voice for the thousands of people who have been impacted by this company that has done the wrong thing by us all. I want to see the government commit to everyone getting their money back.”
The Yarrabah community near Cairns has around 750 members of the failed Youpla fund. Agnes Neal was signed up for three policies, paying into the fund for almost 15 years before its eventual collapse in March this year.
“We got nothing in return, my family cannot afford the cost of a funeral if I pass. I believed in this, I wanted to do the right thing by my family,” Ms Neal said.
The Save Sorry Business delegation said its simple message to the entire federal parliament is that the remaining 29,500 members will also need the same assistance announced by the government.
“The government need to sit down with affected members of the First Nations Community, along with their representatives in a consultative and collaborative manner and plan for a lasting assistance package, allowing these members the opportunity bury their loved ones with dignity in a culturally sensitive manner,” a statement from Yarrabah’s Gurriny Yealamucka Health Service said.