Kimberley customers impacted by Youpla funeral fund collapse reflect on 'bittersweet' resolution

Aboriginal residents in the Kimberley, with Broome Circle financial counsellor Veronica Johnson (back, centre), were among thousands who lost their money in the funeral fund’s collapse. (ABC Kimberley: Mya Kordic)

The final reimbursement for victims of a collapsed funeral fund has been met with mixed reactions in Western Australia’s remote north, where many of the worst-impacted customers reside.

Thousands of Indigenous Australians paid premiums to the Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund (now known as Youpla) over the past 30 years, before its collapse in March 2022.

Last week the federal government announced an enduring resolution for Indigenous Australians impacted by the scheme, through a $97 million package covering holders of an active policy on or after August 1, 2015.

The scheme will offer former customers of Youpla a payment of 60 per cent of the premiums paid up to the value of the insurance and financial counselling.

Broome Circle financial counsellor Veronica Johnson said the announcement was significant for her Kimberley clients who had been fighting for almost four years.

“A lot of my clients are extremely tired, they’ve been getting sick, some have passed away,” she said.

“So it’s a welcome, momentous day for us to be able to celebrate to a certain extent, but it’s also a bittersweet pill for the people that will miss out.”

But Ms Johnson said further discussions needed to be had for the thousands of people not eligible for the financial package.

“I don’t believe it goes far enough to assist 30,000 people that have been robbed and misled right across Australia,” she said.

‘Mixed reaction’ for clients

Deborah Sebastian, 60, signed up for Youpla in the 1990s, unaware the scheme would collapse.

She said the collapse, and the approach taken by the company, had served a lesson to locals in her home of Beagle Bay, 200km north of Broome on the Dampier Peninsula.

“For so many years I’d been paying it and then we found out it was all scam,” she said.

“They came to us well dressed, looking like a government worker … got everybody fooled, so everybody just signed up.

“We don’t fill in any papers, we like to know who they are, where they came from, what is the company name – everything.”

Broome man Ronald Roe, 65, was also affected by the funeral fund’s collapse and said he hoped all people impacted would get their money back.

“It was a mixed reaction. In one sense somebody will get something and then in the other sense nobody because of the time frame that was mentioned within the announcement by the federal government,” he said.

Mr Roe said he felt he had been “ripped off” by Youpla’s funeral plan and more funding was needed to close the gap for all who were affected.

“Hopefully people will die in dignity and be buried with dignity and not have to come and have to fight for their money,” he said.

Advocates to keep fighting

Ms Johnson said her clients had been courageous in fighting for their money lost in the scheme.

“There’s lots of things happening, we’ve got ASIC with the court cases and the appeals … it’s just so complicated and complex for a lot of our very vulnerable clients,” she said.

Ms Johnson said Broome Circle would will make an assessment for its clients to ensure there was a resolution for all Kimberley residents affected.

“The announcement has only just been made, so it’s early days and we will be working with clients that have missed out on this particular occasion,” she said.

The federal government said the new program would run for two years and receive applications until June 30, 2026.

Affected customers can contact the Youpla Support Program online or via the National Indigenous Australians Agency on 1800 079 098.