The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has launched two new short films at an event hosted by the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) in Alice Springs today.

The first film provides advice to Indigenous artists about their rights when negotiating with dealers to on sell their artwork, and the second on how to avoid being scammed.  

The films were developed with the assistance of CAAMA and feature Indigenous actors.

Indigenous Australians reported losing more than $1 million last year to scammers, a 65% increase, with the ACCC receiving more than 800 individual reports of scams from Indigenous consumers in 2015.

ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard says that Indigenous artists don’t always get a good deal when it comes to selling their artworks, and Good art, good deal, aims to inform and empower visual artists about their rights.

“Indigenous art is world renowned, but some artists are taken advantage of and don’t get fair payment for their work, or have their designs reproduced without permission or payment,” ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.

“The ACCC is concerned that too often artists are agreeing to produce art for dealers where the artist has little or no opportunity to negotiate, does not fully understand the terms of payment, timeframes for finishing the artwork, or the quantity of artwork required.”

“The ACCC is urging Indigenous artists to seek advice from an independent party before accepting contract terms and asking for a written agreement with the dealer before sale. Not accepting non-cash payments such as meals, gifts, or goods in place of monetary payments, and checking prices with another dealer or an art centre before selling will help to ensure that Indigenous artists are valued as highly as their artwork”

The second film, Too good to be true, features a cheeky young Indigenous man getting advice from his Aunty about how to avoid being scammed.

“Too many Indigenous consumers lose significant amounts of money to scams. These films try to inform, entertain, and empower Indigenous consumers about their rights,” Ms Rickard said.

The films will also be promoted on the ACCC’s Facebook page, ACCC – Your Rights Mob – Indigenous consumers as well as on the ACCCVideos YouTube page.

“The Indigenous consumers Facebook page has proven very popular since it was launched and has proven to be an effective method to communicate directly with remote Indigenous consumers and provide consumer advice,” Ms Rickard said.

Indigenous consumer protection is one of the ACCC’s strategic priorities.

Good art, good deal

Too good to be true