‘Economic development fundamentally relies on the capabilities of individuals to choose and lead lives that they value… Financial security provides individuals and their families with stability and greater choices in life.’1

Through its Home Ownership Program, IBA provides a range of affordable housing loan products to eligible Indigenous Australians who may not otherwise qualify with mainstream lending institutions for all or some of the assistance they need. As part of the Australian Government’s Closing the Gap initiative, the program aims to make home ownership a realistic choice for more Indigenous Australians. Since the program was established in 1975 a total of 14,700 families and individuals have been assisted into home ownership.

Donna Piper outside her Sydney home.

On a winter’s morning in Sydney, a relaxed Donna Piper is sitting in her warm kitchen talking animatedly about her family. The kitchen, as is the case with many Australian families, is the heart of Donna’s home and–arguably–her world. Because it’s here, when she’s cooking alongside her partner John Gaitaneris and surrounded by the buzz of family and friends, that Donna reflects on how different her life–and that of her children–is from the unstable and difficult years of her own childhood.

Donna and John purchased their Sydney home with a loan from IBA in 2007. Over the course of four years they have created an increasingly valuable asset for themselves, and a welcoming ‘hub’ that their adult children still gravitate towards. ‘You should come here at Christmas time’, said Donna. ‘I’ve got lights all over it. I do it for the kids, even though they’ve grown up. And John pulls his hair out, but I just love it… My kids are my world, and they come around here, to this home, where I’m mama–and I’m solid for them. They’ll come and talk about their lives, or if they want advice’.

Being ‘solid’ for her family is important to Donna, a Tharawal woman from La Perouse in Sydney who spent her childhood moving from house to house with her mother and sister. She said: ‘My mother had my sister at 17, and then had me before she was 21… We were living at Glebe, then La Perouse, Matraville, Kensington… We had nothing when we were kids, and my sister and I had to share our Christmas presents. We’d share our clothes like we were twins… And we always lived with family because we never had a place of our own… We ended up living in a house where people were renting out rooms. But we were only little, and they didn’t want kids there, so my sister and I had to go and live at my father’s place out at Hoxton Park, Casula, Liverpool… We went to so many different schools, and we’d cry every night’.

It was while raising their own four children that Donna and John became determined to create a different future for their family. Donna said: ‘We were in government housing with all the ‘characters’ that were there. And I’m no saint–far from a saint–but the more kids I had, the more I was like this is just not the place for them. I told John I wanted more for the kids, I wanted them to be proud, to be brought up thinking, look mum and dad have got a house… I had a pretty rough childhood, and I had to be more grown up at age nine or ten than my kids–they were out kicking footies, just being kids’.

Donna’s motivations correspond with the findings of IBA home ownership research from 2008 where clients who had purchased homes reported improved social and emotional wellbeing, specifically feelings of happiness, security, pride and a sense of achievement. Clients also reported increased confidence in managing their household budgets and maintaining their homes.2

Donna says negotiating their way through the process of buying a home increased their overall confidence in financial matters. She said it also required her to overcome a fear of ‘sounding stupid’. She credits the home lending staff at IBA’s Sydney office with enabling her to understand the specific details of her home loan. She said: ‘One day I said to Paul (Kotsiras), look I have no idea what you’re saying, I’m not that cluey… I don’t understand the big words, so can you break it down? And that’s how I learned about interest rates. And now I know’.

Donna says she has also developed strong budgeting skills, which she now proudly shares with her workmates and friends. ‘I’ve just got two of my friends into budgeting. They asked me how I pay our electricity bill? And I said because I put ‘x’ dollars a fortnight away. And I write it down, I’ve got it in my handbag: the electricity, water, an extra $50 off my home loan…same thing every fortnight… You know I’ve never asked for an extension on gas, electricity or anything, and it’s because I wanted things to be different. We had nothing in our childhood, but now we cope–we enjoy our life, but we pay our bills’.

If there’s one thing that excites Donna more than talking about owning her own home, it’s talking about the opportunities her four children have to do the same. Inspired by his parents, eldest son Michael has already bought a home through IBA. Donna said: ‘Michael and his wife Laura got married last October and have been in their home for more than three years, and they love it. Michael just asked me, ‘what do you do when you buy a house mum?’ So I explained about IBA’s offer, but also how there’s rates and water bills so make sure you save extra… And he’s just so proud…and he tells his mates, you can do this too, it’s all got to do with saving’.

Donna’s second eldest son Brendon was also invited to apply for an IBA home loan but at 22 years of age did not feel ready at the time to make the necessary financial commitment. While eager to see her children take up home ownership, Donna said: ‘I advise all the kids on the home loan, but don’t force them into it, because it is a big thing… And all your kids are different, so I don’t push Brendon because I know he’s just not ready… Although he’s getting there–he got his tax back recently and he said it’s going straight into the bank for the deposit. And I didn’t even have to say anything!’

As her children enter adulthood and start families of their own, Donna and John appreciate even more the choices that home ownership might afford them in the future. ‘I’m 47 now’, said Donna, ‘and I’m hoping that at age 55 I can cut down at work, and help the kids out a couple of days with child care–just be grandma–and help them in paying off their loans’.

Donna and John’s own long-term goal is to retire to the NSW coast so that John can pursue his love of cooking and fishing. ‘Nobody wants to work until they’re 65′, said Donna. ‘We’re maybe not going to own our home (outright), but we’ll make money on it, and hopefully have paid a fair bit off it. And if we can still keep going, we’ll keep going. But if we’re feeling a bit tired and it’s time for us, we will sell. And that’s choice’.

For now though, Donna just appreciates spending time in the heart of her home and family.  ’My life’s great’, she said. ‘For what we’ve been through, where we’ve come from… Through this home loan, they’ve given us a chance to make something of our lives. And I’m not here to prove ‘look at me, I’ve got this’. I wanted to do it…and I want my kids to have something like this in their lives, not because they’re Aboriginal, just because they’re people’.

Find out more about IBA’s Home Ownership Program.

1.Australian Government, 2010, Indigenous Economic Development Strategy Draft for Consultation, Canberra.

2. Indigenous Business Australia and the Centre for Appropriate Technology, 2008, Perceptions of Home Ownership Among IBA Home Loan Clients, prepared by Anna Szava and Mark Moran, Canberra.