INTHEBLACK July 2022 - Magazine - Page 18
GET SMART
// T I M E S T H R E E
COMPILED BY SUSAN MULDOWNEY
Below: Thousands of people take to the
streets in the annual NAIDOC Week march
on 5 July 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. The
march marks the start of NAIDOC Week, which
runs in the first full week of July each year.
STEPPING UP FOR
THE COMMUNITY
The theme of NAIDOC week 2022 is “Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!”.
It calls for people to amplify their voices and narrow the gap
between aspiration and reality, to help improve the lives of First
Nations people. We ask three CPAs about the role first nations
accounting professionals can play.
01
N I K K E TA H C U N E O C PA
PAYA B L E S A N D R E C E I VA B L E S M A N A G E R
ENERGY QUEENSLAND
For many First Nations communities, intergenerational
poverty is ingrained within society. Navigating through
the complexity of obtaining loans, developing an
investment strategy and even creating savings targets
and budgets can be very overwhelming.
I believe that we, as accountants and finance
professionals, are in a privileged situation, possessing
the knowledge and financial understanding required
to help improve financial resilience within First Nations
communities. Sharing this knowledge helps us to
make a contribution towards breaking the cycle.
Financial education is so powerful, and sharing our
knowledge is a way we can “show up” and support
our First Nations communities. We need to train and
mentor members of the community with the relevant
skills to help build financial capability and
awareness. It is important that the focus be on
partnership with community members to disseminate
the information, while acknowledging and respecting
the strong connections to family, culture and
community.
We also need to use our accounting and finance
skills to support community-owned businesses to
foster financial sustainability and help to make a
real impact.
Creating the right business model to support
growth and develop strategy will help contribute
towards closing the gap. This is the fundamental key
to ensuring we can empower future generations with
the essential knowledge and support structures that
will enable them to build financial independence.
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Financial education is so powerful, and sharing our
knowledge is a way we can “show up” and support
our First Nations communities. It is important that the
focus be on partnership with community members to
disseminate the information, while acknowledging and
respecting the strong connections to family, culture and
community.
18 ITB July 2022