Media Release by The Hon Jenny Macklin MP

$1.5 million for Traditional Credit Union

Joint Media Release with:

  • The Hon. Warren Snowdon MP, Member for Lingiari

The Australian Government is providing $1.5 million to the Traditional Credit Union (TCU) from the Aboriginal Benefits Account over the next three years.

TCU delivers essential financial services to Indigenous people across Arnhem Land and Groote Eylandt.

The company provides training and job opportunities to Indigenous people.

TCU was established in the small community of Milingimbi in 1995 to provide quality financial services tailored to the needs of local people.

The Union has more than 13,000 members, $10 million in deposits and 12 branches across the Northern Territory.

TCU won the inaugural Reconciliation Australia and BHP Billiton Governance Award this year.

The funding announcement was made at the launch of National Australia Bank’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), the 100th business to commit to such a plan through Reconciliation Australia.

NAB is supporting TCU to open new branches and provide employee training and business planning.

Practical measures outlined in NAB’s RAP range from employment and corporate volunteering to micro-finance products.

Just as NAB is supporting leaders in Indigenous enterprise and governance, the Government is backing them too.

I commend the commitment and goodwill demonstrated by the corporate sector in tackling the enormous challenge of closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.