Hundreds of Tamworth Aboriginal people left in the lurch by funeral insurance collapse

Hundreds of Tamworth Aboriginal people are among 17,000 contributors who have been left in the lurch after the Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund went into liquidation earlier this year.

They believe the firm deliberately targeted the Aboriginal community. About $300 million was paid out to the fund by the community, and policy holders don't know if a cent will come back.

Mrs Craigie estimates she paid out tens of thousands of dollars, but has been left afraid she will have to crowd fund to finance a funeral for a critically-ill family member.

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"My brother-in law has been in it for 47 years," she said.

"He's now on the brink. Who's going to bury him? We've got no money, none of us."

Greens Senate candidate David Shoebridge told a crowd of Tamworth Aboriginal people that it was "one of the worst cases of injustice to First Nations peoples that we've seen in the last few years".

"This fund targeted First Nations people because it knew they would likely not be able to claim on the fund, because when financial circumstances hit, they would lose their cover," he said.

He said the federal government knew the scheme was unscrupulous and nonetheless allowed Centrelink and pension funds to be paid directly into it, as a form of government endorsement.

On Thursday, Mr Shoebridge joined New England candidate Carol Sparks to announce the party wanted the federal government to spend $25 million to pay for funeral expenses for fund members "as and when they're due", so they could at least cover the cost.

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Beatrice Waters-Griffiths paid $110 a fortnight for policies for herself, her husband, three kids, and six grandchildren.

"We have not been notified [of the company failure]," she said.

"I've paid over $32,000 into this. By the way things are going, I don't think we'll get our money back."

Gomeroi elder Don Craigie said the federal government "are responsible for this fiasco".

"You would have known there was not enough policing of this fund," he said.

Wendy Craigie said policy holders thought the company was Aboriginal-run, and thought they were doing their family a favour by planning for the future.

"When I first started, I was 19, I paid $11 a fortnight," she said.

"Then when I turned 20 it goes up to $15.

"They've ripped the guts clean out of us, they're going to get away with it."

The company was also known as Youpla.

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