Fair Trading Minister Virginia Judge today announced a fourth season of the successful indigenous play Deadly Dollars will tour the south and north coast.

Ms Judge said the NSW Fair Trading play is designed to educate Aboriginal communities about money management so they can avoid financial woes.

“Deadly Dollars is a fantastic initiative that is performed by Aboriginal actors for Aboriginal community members,” Ms Judge said.

“The play covers issues such as household spending, interest free deals, mobile phone bills and other credit matters.

“The central characters are based in a small isolated community and face potentially disastrous financial situations because of their purchasing decisions.

“Performers interact with the audience to work out solution to financial dilemmas that are then acted out.

‘This approach allows the audience to learn who, and where, to turn to when they are faced with major financial problems.”

The first three tours, funded by the NSW Government between November 2008 and October 2009, delivered 58 Deadly Dollars workshops to 521 community groups and workers and 87 performances to 5,535 people.

“Due to high demand, there will be another 28 Deadly Dollars performances across the south and north coasts over the next four weeks,” Ms Judge said.

“NSW Fair Trading should be applauded for coming up with a unique and effective way to tackle financial literacy in Aboriginal communities.”

The play was developed by NSW Fair Trading in conjunction with Newcastle-based Aboriginal production company Rod Smith Productions.

Ms Judge said NSW was the first state to use interactive theatre to educate Aboriginal consumers about managing money.

“It is a new and innovative approach to educating indigenous communities about finances and staying out of debt,” she said.

“We have received a huge amount of positive feedback from a broad spectrum of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal community workers, school teachers, students and community members.”

The NSW Government has invested more than $193,000 in Deadly Dollars since its inception in 2008. The latest tour is fully funded by the Federal Government, through the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs at a total cost of $73,000.

A full list of the Deadly Dollar performances is below:

Back to Media releases