Preamble

Pay the Rent is a locally initiated project that acknowledges past and present grave injustices inflicted on Indigenous peoples. We believe all non-Indigenous Australians continue to benefit from the invasion of Indigenous Australia and have an obligation to work toward redressing the wrongs of that invasion and its effects.

Our aim is to facilitate practical ways for local non-Indigenous Australians to address this, by collecting rent from them as an acknowledgement that they are on Bundjalung land. We suggest a rate of 1% or more of gross income as a contribution, or a monthly amount chosen by the donor.

This money is then deposited into a Trust fund. Pay the Rent Committee facilitates the funding of grants through this Trust fund and distributes them by agreement with the Bundjalung Elders Council.

The Pay the Rent Trust aims to fund and support social change initiatives within Aboriginal communities which:

• foster fundamental change
• enhance self-determination and self-governance
• strengthen cultural knowledge, heritage and language
• focus on community empowerment and education
• break down racism
• build understanding of Aboriginal ways of being.

Under these principles, we commit to operate Pay the Rent.

Download our Statement of Objectives