AUSTRALIA | Consumer advocates have responded to the announcement that the Albanese government will lock remote grocery prices to city prices.
Lynda Edwards, Director of First Nations Policy at Financial Counselling Australia, said that financial counsellors and capability workers have welcomed this initiative as it recognised that First Nations people have been paying too much for essential grocery items in remote areas.
She also addressed the need for a mandatory code of practice for stores operating in remote areas and for the ACCC to enforce the Unit Pricing Code more strictly.
“If Australia is serious about Closing the Gap, food security for First Nations people must be a priority,” said Edwards.
“They are paying premium prices in remote areas for food and groceries that are often substandard and are then left with little or no money for other household expenses. It’s got to stop.”
Bettina Cooper, Senior Financial Counsellor and Strategy Lead at Mob Strong Dept Help, Financial Rights Legal Centre, added that it was excellent to see the Albanese Government tackle access to affordable food in remote communities.
For the 15 percent or 150,900 First Nations peoples living in remote and very remote areas, the first Close the Gap goal was to ensure everyone could live long and healthy lives, which can only be achieved when food security is achieved.
According to the ABS, most remote First Nations communities in Australia are in the most disadvantaged socio-economic areas. They have few options about where to shop, and the plan to lock prices for essential items in some 76 remote stores will greatly benefit them.
Martina Kingi, First Nations Development Manager at the Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network, was pleased to finally see the government resolve the long-standing problem of food insecurity and high costs in remote First Nations communities.
“It is great that the government has acknowledged the link between food insecurity and poor health outcomes in these communities,” said Kingi.
“It will be critical to the success of this scheme to ensure it is well monitored and enforced and that people in communities know who they can complain to if they experience problems with their local store.”
A CHOICE investigation in October last year found that groceries in some remote First Nations communities cost more than twice as much as in capital cities. To assist people living in these communities, action on grocery prices was urgently needed.
“We are pleased to see the government has promised to lock certain grocery prices in remote areas to prices in cities,” said Rosie Thomas, Director of Campaigns at CHOICE.
“Access to food and groceries at fair prices is a nationwide issue, but our investigation highlighted that food security and extremely high grocery prices are far more prevalent in remote communities.”
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