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Rhonda helps others to build a super future by Michelle Prince
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honda Inkamala lives at Kwale-Kwale Outstation, 40 kilometers west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory (NT). She speaks three Aboriginal languages - Western Arranta, Luritja, Pitjantjara - and English. Rhonda’s varied career has included working as a teacher and a remote health tutor. She now runs Money Matters programs for people living in Alice Springs and the surrounding communities. In Money Matters Rhonda teaches people about saving, and supports people to reach their savings goals. Superannuation (super) is one topic Rhonda wants to learn more about to better help her family, friends and clients build a good retirement income. Rhonda says that the Government’s improvements to super are positive, and she believes the low income super contribution is a good benefit for Aboriginal people. “People who earn $37,000 a year or less can get up to $500 extra in their super every year from the Government” said Rhonda. “This will really benefit people on lower incomes. Five hundred dollars might not sound like a lot, but it all adds up in the end.” Rhonda also thinks that the rising rates for compulsory super payments - gradually going from 9% to 12% by July 2019 - will help to grow peoples’ super savings for retirement. “This means your boss will put more into your super” said Rhonda. “This will help everyone by increasing our super savings for our future and giving us more flexibility
to do things. I would love to go on a holiday when I retire and get my super.” Like most people who have had different jobs, Rhonda has a few super accounts. “I think I have four different super accounts” said Rhonda. “I will be using SuperSeeker to track them all down. It’s a free website you can use to find your super.” “I’ll also be encouraging my clients to use SuperSeeker because
it’s important for all of us to know where our super money is for our future.” Rhonda encourages all Indigenous people to find out about their super and how they will benefit from the super improvements at superfuture.gov. au or by calling the Australian Taxation Office’s Indigenous Helpline on 13 10 30. To use SuperSeeker go to ato. gov.au/superseeker
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