UPDATE 9 FEBRUARY 2024:

The government has announced an enduring resolution called the Youpla Support Program for over 13,000 people affected by the collapse of Youpla/ACBF. This only happened after two years of fierce advocacy by First Nations financial counsellors, advocates, policy holders and over 20,000 people like you who made their voices heard. Thank you for your support.

The program will be open to people making payments on or after 1 August 2015 – the date Centrepay cancelled Youpla’s registration to receive money from social security payments. People will be given the choice of a government-protected funeral bond or a payment of 60% of premiums paid up to a cap of their Youpla funeral benefit amount. Free financial counselling will be available to support choice.

The program will run from 1 July 2024 for two years and will relieve immediate financial hardship for many, provide certainty around Sorry Business for others, and enable thousands of families to move on with their lives.

If you've been affected by the Youpla/ACBF collapse, find out more information about the program.

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First Nations leaders and consumer advocates have delivered this open letter calling on the government to support peoples affected by the collapse of the Youpla (ACBF) funeral fund. You can still add your name in support as we continue to campaign for a long term resolution for all Youpla (ACBF) policy holders.

See the letter below and add your name too: 

To the Treasurer,

For decades, the private funeral insurance company ‘Youpla’ (also known as ACBF) has aggressively sold poor value funeral plans to First Nations peoples. 

Now this company has collapsed, leaving thousands of people unable to access funeral plans they had paid for to cover the cost of grieving loved ones through Sorry Business. 

Funerals and Sorry Business play a special cultural role in First Nations communities. Youpla sought to deliberately exploit communities through loopholes in financial laws and consumer protections. Successive governments and regulators have been on notice of this misconduct and the regulatory gaps that facilitated it for nearly three decades and did nothing to prevent it.

Over ten thousand First Nations peoples have lost access to a product they have paid for, and we must act.

We call on the Federal Government to urgently support First Nations peoples who have been affected by the collapse of funeral insurer Youpla, and to ensure this can’t happen again.

This is one of the worst financial scandals we've ever seen. The Youpla (ACBF) funeral fund has caused direct harms to First Nations communities by:

• Misleading policyholders into believing they were dealing with an Aboriginal owned or controlled organisation, run for the benefit of First Nations peoples.

• Aggressively selling expensive and poor value funeral plans (including via door to door sales tactics), and actively selling policies to children and young people.

• Charging unfair premiums, including higher costs for medical conditions that are most common amongst First Nations communities and even refusing to pay claims after suicides.

• Purposefully evolving its business model to avoid regulation.

The Financial Services Royal Commission exposed Youpla (ACBF) for systematic misleading and deceptive conduct. In 2018, the Commission investigated the company — but this wasn’t the first time the company has been taken to task. Youpla has been subject to complaints by First Nations peoples and consumer advocates for decades as well as regulatory action from ASIC including in the courts, but it was not enough to stop the poor practices continuing. The harm created by Youpla is squarely a result of an inadequate regulatory framework. The harm created by Youpla should never have been allowed to continue.

People are hurting now. More than ten thousand First Nations people have lost funeral coverage for their families, many after decades of paying premiums. As the company has gone into liquidation, these payments cannot be recovered.  

Community organisations and financial counsellors have been inundated with hundreds of calls a day from people who are deeply distressed, betrayed and humiliated. People have paid for funeral cover to ensure their families can carry out Sorry Business and grieve together — not to be left with the challenges of intergenerational debt and hardship. 

Youpla shouldn’t have been allowed to sell these funeral policies. Now the worst has happened, we must make this right. 

Your Government has the opportunity to right this wrong and stop further harm by stepping up to support the First Nations peoples affected by this company's appalling failures.

1. What is Youpla?  

Youpla (which until recently traded as the Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund) aggressively sold poor value funeral insurance to First Nations communities. It marketed itself as “Australia’s only funeral insurance plan dedicated to the Aboriginal community.” However, Youpla was not Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander owned or managed. It was not affiliated with or sponsored by any First Nations organisation. Youpla preyed on the cultural importance of Sorry Business in First Nations Communities.

For almost three decades, the Federal Government and regulators have known about the harms caused by Youpla but they failed to assist First Nations consumers and allowed the funeral insurance fund to operate. Up until recently, policymakers allowed Youpla to operate without a financial services license and to continue trading.

In March 2022, the fund collapsed. Policyholders who were trying to do the right thing by their families and community are likely to lose everything unless the Federal Government steps in.

2. What is Sorry Business?  

Sorry Business is a time of mourning that involves funerals and related cultural activities and is of special, cultural significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Sorry Business can cost on average between $6,000 to $15,000, so many people make sacrifices to pay for insurance policies to cover expenses. Youpla exploited Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities who were trying to do the right thing by their families by selling poor value funeral policies to cover Sorry Business expenses.

3. I'm a customer of Youpla (ACBF). What should I do?

Mob Strong Debt Help and the Financial Rights Legal Centre has independent advice available for current and former Youpla/Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund policy holders here.

4. Will my name appear on this page after I sign on?  

Once you sign on, your name will be added to our open letter and presented to the incoming government. Your name won't be published on this website as we can't fit everyone here, but it will be crucial in helping convince the government to step in to support First Nations consumers.

5. How do I add my organisation?

If you represent an organisation who would like to add their name to this campaign, you can get in touch here.

About the #SaveSorryBusiness design

The Save Sorry Business design was developed by Dixon Patten at Bayila Creative. The logo represents a smoking – an important part of ceremony for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples. Smoking ceremonies are used for burial, celebration, healing and cleansing, and are also a gesture of goodwill, bringing people together. Smoking ceremonies can also be a way of connecting with country by speaking to and acknowledging ancestors.