00:00There's very little choice in people being able to do a shop on a budget due to the high
00:09prices in some of these community stores.
00:13Prices are higher in the regions, aren't they, because of the extra cost of freight and the
00:17limited retail market, but do you think having more food outlets will put pressure on retailers
00:23to reduce their prices?
00:26There's certainly an appetite for competition, I think, particularly in remote community
00:30stores, but in terms of the prices that most of our financial counsellors and capability
00:38workers are seeing in remote communities, it's really, really high, and for people to
00:44be able to do a shop on a budget and be able to feed their families really healthy food,
00:50it can be really, really challenging, and certainly there's opportunities here for government
00:55to be able to come to the assistance of some of these community stores to be able to help
00:59them, because the cost of freight, as you say, and also the limited competition does
01:07keep products really, really high, and so how do we support people in remote communities
01:15to be able to access good and nutritious food on a budget?
01:18What's the best way to do that?
01:21I think government needs to come to the party in terms of assisting and supporting these
01:26stores, but there needs to be some changes in legislation, and as advocates, we are really,
01:31really happy that the National Indigenous Australians Agency is doing this strategy
01:38for remote community stores.
01:43We feel like there's a few other recommendations that we'd like to put forward, and one of
01:47them is that regardless of the size of the store, I think that there needs to be pricing
01:53on all goods within the store, and certainly using the unit pricing code in terms of these
02:01stores as well, too.
02:03And Linda, if prices aren't displayed in some shops, then how easy is it for people to get
02:07to the checkout and just realise that they're spending too much, they haven't got enough?
02:12Yeah, well, I mean, you can imagine the shock, firstly, of people going, purchasing an item
02:19that they really need and going to the checkout and finding that it's not part of their
02:22budget, it's like they've gone over budget, or they're actually ashamed, you know, that
02:27shame factor, you know, so they don't want to put the item back, and so they purchase
02:31it, and so they actually, you know, don't have enough money then for other goods that
02:36they need to have within their community and within their family.
02:39So it is really, really challenging, and I think it's a real concern.
02:45If this was happening in an urban, you know, centre, I think there'd be a huge outcry.
02:50There'd be, you know, politicians be coming to talk about this, it'll be on people's radar.
02:56And unfortunately, because it's in remote communities, it just doesn't seem to get the
03:01airplay that it needs to.
03:03And I appreciate all the media outlets that are playing this at the moment, and ensuring
03:08that this issue is looked at.
03:10So just finally, Linda, what is your advice as a financial counsellor to people on how
03:15to shop smarter?
03:17Well, I'm not a financial counsellor, I used to be a financial counsellor, but as a previous
03:22financial counsellor, I would certainly, sometimes it's not really up to the person to
03:27budget for the food, particularly in remote stores where the prices of food is sometimes
03:32double or triple, you know, the size, the prices in urban centres.
03:37But I would definitely say, you know, those tips, things like, you know, making sure you
03:41have a list when you go shopping, to ensure that you're not buying when you're hungry,
03:46all of those type of things.
03:48And certainly making use of those emergency relief services within your community that
03:54potentially could give you some help in that.
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