‘Welcome relief’: Cost of 30 essential items reduced in remote communities
The prices of essential items in remote stores will be locked down from Tuesday, in an initiative praised for making a ‘tangible difference’ in Aboriginal Territorians’ ability to feed their families.
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The prices of essential items in remote stores will be locked down to city prices from Tuesday, in an initiative praised for making a tangible difference in Aboriginal Territorians’ ability to feed their families.
The new federal subsidy scheme for food and essential items in remote Aboriginal communities officially began on July 1, reducing the price of 30 everyday items, from rice and tinned vegetables to nappies and toilet paper.
Several Territory stores had already trialled the subsidy scheme, and the Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal (ALPA) Corporation said the initiative was “already giving our remote First Nations customers welcome relief”.
“The program is significantly reducing prices in stores but also boosting health outcomes and ensuring remote communities aren’t left behind when it comes to food and essentials,” ALPA chief executive Alastair King said.
“We see it making a real, tangible difference to customers’ ability to feed their families.”
Outback Stores deputy chief executive Jay Rathore said the scheme was “specifically designed to bring genuine cost savings to remote communities”.
“During the successful trial phase, Outback Stores supported 72 stores across various regions,” Mr Rathore said.
“Feedback from these trial stores has been overwhelmingly positive.”
The federal Labor government is investing $50m over four years to reduce the costs of essential items in more than 76 remote stores, with plans to expand the scheme to include up to 152 remote stores.
Remote stores can now apply to participate in the subsidy scheme, which will be administered by the National Indigenous Australians Agency and delivered by Outback Stores, a not-for-profit commonwealth company.
To participate in the subsidy scheme, remote stores must first sign up to a new National Code of Practice for Remote Store Operations, which sets minimum standards aimed at improving remote store governance, operations and health outcomes.
The federal government is also investing $21.4m over four years to upskill local First Nations store-based staff, to promote good nutrition and to help develop the skills required to provide high quality retail services.
Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy encouraged remote stores to apply to join the subsidy scheme.
“First Nations people living in remote communities have been paying significantly higher prices for essential items than people in the cities for far too long,” she said.
“The start of the subsidy scheme marks a significant step in our work to ease cost of living pressures and improve food security issues for remote communities.”
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Originally published as ‘Welcome relief’: Cost of 30 essential items reduced in remote communities
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