Choice has named the years-long investigation which helped secure $97m in relief payments for Indigenous victims of a dodgy funeral insurance scheme as a campaign highlight of 2024.
The leading consumer rights group said February's long-awaited resolution came after tens of thousands of Indigenous Australians were victims of funeral insurance provider Youpla - previously the Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund – which had long targeted First Nations communities with insurance products intended to ensure members had funds available for sorry business.
Youpla, which represented itself as having Aboriginal ownership, raked in more than $170 million from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policyholders over three decades, before the Save Sorry Business Coalition – a First Nations-led campaign supported by 130 organisations, including CHOICE – worked to right the massive wrong.
After years of gathering evidence and lobbying lawmakers, the federal government in February announced the Youpla Support Program would come into effect in July, delivering an expected $97m to more than 13,000 affected policyholders, who now can apply for a government-backed bond, or a repayment of 60 per cent of the premiums paid, up until June 30, 2006.
Financial counsellor and consumer advocate Bettina Cooper, a Boandik woman, was instrumental in the national campaign for justice for victims of the financial fiasco.
Some First Nations policyholders who had paid tens of thousands of dollars in premiums were left with no funds to bury their loved ones in culturally-appropriate ways.
"When that announcement (of Youpla's collapse in 2022) went out, we went from getting 60 calls a month, to 1000 calls in 10 days," Ms Cooper said.
"We spent the next three months returning all those calls and then went into advocacy mode.
"We had bodies lying in morgues unable to be buried; we had a lot of people distressed.
"At that point it was actually Choice's board and [former CEO] Alan Kirkland who backed the idea of a campaign to advocate for something for Youpla people, because they were not going to be covered by anything else."
Ms Cooper and the Save Sorry Business Coalition continued to campaign until the government more than a year later announced the $97m scheme, which would result in some funeral costs covered and some money returned to those who made payments to Youpla and the former ACBF.
The offer was now on the table for Youpla clients still paying for a funeral insurance policy on or after August 1, 2015 – the date the government at the time acted to prevent further payments to the flawed scheme through Centrelink.
The Federal Court in February ruled Youpla's marketing had suggested it had Aboriginal ownership, which was false.
The relief for victims of the Youpla collapse was among Choice's 2024 campaign highlights, with others including regulation of buy now pay later (BNPL) providers, new anti-scam laws, and more safety standards for baby products.
The company's airline and unfair trading investigations also led to government reform in 2024.
"With the help of our indispensable allies and supporters. But we have managed to achieve some important wins in 2024," Choice said.
"Many of these high points were the culmination of years of campaigning and investigative work, with no shortage of setbacks along the way."
