Dodgy funeral company banked on Centrepay for payments

A company that sold junk funeral policies to Indigenous people received more than 95 per cent of its payments through Centrelink's billing system, Centrepay.

Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund, also known as Youpla, sold dodgy funeral insurance plans to Indigenous people for more than three decades, despite concerns being raised by First Nations, financial, legal and consumer organisations.

From the early 1990s until the company's collapse last year, it targeted Aboriginal communities by going door to door and falsely marketing itself as Aboriginal-owned.

Liquidator SV Partners has now released new data showing how heavily Youpla/ACBF relied on Centrepay.

Analysis by the Save Sorry Business Coalition, formed to advocate for those affected by the company, found more than $174 million was paid to Youpla/ACBF since 1992, by 100,000 people, for 150,000 individual policies, including for small children and babies. 

More than $169 million went to the company through Centrepay, from 2001-2015, until the Commonwealth Department of Human Services removed its approval from the scheme.

In 2018, the banking royal commission found Youpla/ACBF engaged in conduct that fell below community standards in a number of respects, including that it relied on the cultural significance of funerals to Indigenous people to market its policies.

Many paid far more in premiums than was available for payout.

Dunghutti man Mark Holden, a solicitor at Mob Strong Debt Help, a free nationwide legal advice and financial counselling service for Indigenous people, is calling on the government to step in.

"Centrepay became the payments platform of choice for Youpla to take First Nations people's money, even before they had a chance to buy groceries or clothes for their kids," he said.

"Previous federal governments and regulators failed to regulate Youpla's predatory practices and their misleading financial products.

"This federal government now has the chance to set a new direction."

Aboriginal financial counsellor Lynda Edwards, the NSW Premier's 2023 Woman of the Year, is a member of the Save Sorry Business Coalition.

Ms Edwards said, while the government has helped by developing the Youpla Benefit Scheme, it's an interim scheme that expires late this year and is not a suitable long-term option.

"First Nations people are not asking for much, just a meaningful acknowledgement of the harm done and a proportionate response to their financial losses," she said.

"A fair and culturally appropriate scheme would have options to cover those who need repayment, those who need a replacement funeral plan, and those who need a savings product. 

"Financial counselling support would support each policyholder to make the right decisions for their situation."

Comment has been sought from the Minister for Social Services.