Andrew Barr has announced his plans to “expand the No Interest Loans Scheme (NILS) and help more Canberra households on low-incomes deal with cost of living pressures.”
The 2012-13 ACT Budget provided $740,000 over four years for the expansion of this scheme, which provides no-interest loans to people on low incomes.
We are hosting an information session on Thursday 22 November for community organisations who are interested in providing this valuable service.
The information session will include presentations by Good Shepherd Microfinance, which is responsible for running the NILS program nationally with capital funding provided by National Australia Bank. The Federal Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs will also provide information on the support that it provides to the NILS Program.
Following the information session we will be seeking expressions of interest from interested community organisations.
One can only hope expanding the credit of people already struggling to manage their finances will not end in tears.