Mai Wiru foodcard

• Reach:

  SA

• Focus area:

  Indigenous

• Status:

  Current

• Evaluated:

  No

Overview

The Mai Wiru Regional Stores Council and member stores have long recognised the need for people to have additional support in making healthy choices and having those choices upheld. To do this the Mai Wiru group of stores have introduced the Mai Wiru foodcard (the FoodCard). This is based on a card used by the ALPA (Arnhem Land Progress Association) group of stores in the top end. It was designed as a family budgeting tool for healthy food throughout the pay cycle.

The FoodCard is completely voluntary. Anangu (Indigenous people on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara - APY - Lands) receiving wages and salaries can use the FoodCard by depositing money on it, and card holders can add selected family members' photo ID to the card to enable its use in their absence or other circumstances. The money deposited onto the card can then be used to purchase healthy food and essential items only.

Using the FoodCard protects families from pressures to spend this voluntarily quarantined money on non-essential items.

Adapted from Mai Wiru website

Contacts

Mai Wiru Regional Stores Council Aboriginal Corporation
3 Wilkinson Street
Alice Springs NT 0870
PO Box 4515
Alice Springs NT 0871
Email: office@maiwiru.org.au
Ph: (08) 8950 6841
Fax: (08) 8953 8666

Links

• View newspaper article: APY health plan push (PDF - 2.0 MB)
• View newspaper article: Group seeks income control in APY Lands (PDF - 4.4 MB)
• View website: Mai Wiru