Cultural Identity and Financial Literacy: Australian Aboriginal Experiences of Money and Money Management

Abstract

This paper explores Australian Aboriginal experiences of money and money management, with a focus on cultural identity and financial literacy. Within a framework of the literature on the history and cultural identity of the Indigenous Australian community, we draw on a section of a qualitative study on banking, security, privacy, identity and trust. The data presented in this paper focuses on face-to-face interviews and yarning circles with Aboriginal elders and community people in Brisbane, Queensland. Preliminary results show that a history of Aboriginal people's experience of money and social obligation to kin and community influence money management. The results indicate that cultural identity shapes money management practices. The paper concludes by presenting recommendations to promote savings and money management practices that can fulfil one's obligation to kin and community and fit well with the cultural identity.