This paper summarises the major findings of two case studies that examined Aboriginal people’s access to banking and financial services in central Australia and north-west New South Wales, and some of the assertions that are commonly made about the delivery of banking and financial services to Indigenous Australians.^[7] It then identifies some comparative best practice from overseas, drawing on developments in the delivery of banking services to indigenous peoples and low- and moderate-income earners in North America. It concludes that many of the assertions regularly employed in Australia by banks and others to justify the withdrawal or current lack of provision of banking services to Indigenous peoples are either based on myths or, at a minimum, deserve to be severely tested.

Before addressing the two case studies it will be helpful first to describe some of the underlying factors which directly impact on Indigenous people’s access to the delivery of banking and financial services in Australia.