When funeral insurer provider Youpla Group went bust, it left thousands of First Nations people unable to pay for funerals and conduct Sorry Business, a mourning tradition with deep cultural importance.
The Youpla Group — also called the Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund (ACBF) — liquidated in 2022 without enough assets for members to obtain a refund or pay for funerals, which “inflicted significant cultural and emotional harm to many,” an Impact Analysis said.
Federal Court-imposed penalty of $1.2 million in 2023
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However now many victims of the collapse are eligible to receive cash back.
From July 1, the government-established Youpla Support Program is offering payments to reimburse any members who held an active policy from 2015 onwards.
Of well over 100,000 former Youpla policyholders, 13,700 people held policies on or after August 1, 2015 — that’s the date that the Commonwealth removed the insurer from Centrepay after acknowledging the risks it posed customers.
Youpla “falsely marketed itself as a First Nations organisation” and mostly targeted First Nations people “using aggressive, predatory practices that were over-priced, poor value and not suitable for the policyholder’s needs,” the Impact Analysis said.
The insurer also failed to properly explain to members that ongoing payments were needed for them to remain eligible for benefits.
An ASIC action in 2020 led to the company winding up in 2022 and the Federal Court imposed a penalty of $1.2 million in 2023.
The company was originally set up in 1992, and between 1999 and 2004 Youpla already had multiple ASIC actions launched against it for unfair practices, but was ultimately allowed to continue selling funeral insurance.
From 2001, Youpla Group received and processed an average of about 250 funeral expenses claims per year, with standard policies ranging between $8000 and $12,000, the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) said.
That’s a total of 130,619 policies since 2001, worth $169.2 million in premiums, and 15,306 of those policies were still in place, with $71.1 million paid in premiums, when the company was liquidated in 2020.
What you need to know about payments
Members who held a policy after 2015 will be eligible for the payments from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2026.
Within the two-year program, Services Australia will call eligible members, but urgent matters can be kick-started earlier for former members who want to get in touch themselves.
The payments will be equal to the total cost that Youpla/ACBF would have paid out to members, or just over half of the total amount paid by members — whichever is lower.
That can come in the form of funeral bonds which can be used to pay for Sorry Business, as long as the payment is more than $1000, or as a lump sum payment straight into bank accounts.
“You’ll be offered access to financial counselling under the Program to help you choose the option that’s best for you,” NIAA said.
“If you are eligible, you don’t have to apply or register, Services Australia will call you.
“But if you need to pay for Sorry Business soon, you can call Services Australia on 1800 136 380 to get the process started.”
The Youpla Support Program takes over from the now inactive interim scheme called the Youpla Group Funeral Benefits Program (YGFB).
YGFB was announced in 2022 and allowed the families of former members to claim a grant to cover immediate funeral expenses, and closed on June 30, 2024.