Financial exclusion is a stubborn problem

There has been no improvement in the level of financial exclusion in Australia in close to a decade, according to a new study.

The Centre for Social Impact looked at the trend in financial exclusion between 2006 and 2013 and found that around one in six adult Australians were severely or fully excluded throughout the entire period.

CSI defines financial exclusion as the lack of access to affordable and appropriate financial products and services. People who are fully financially excluded have no access to three basic financial products - a transaction account, a credit card and insurance.

People who are severely financially excluded have no access to two of the three products.

"People in this position have a reduced ability to manage their consumption or buffer against unexpected financial shocks," CSI said.

Over the survey period there was a decline in the proportion of fully excluded people but an increase in the proportion of severely excluded.

The proportion of fully excluded people fell from 1.4 per cent in 2006 to one per cent in 2013, while the proportion of severely excluded rose from 14 per cent to 15.9 per cent of the period.

Women are over-represented in this group, as are people aged 18 to 24 and people with low level of educational attainment. People who only reach year 10 at high school make up 23.2 per cent of the population but 30 per cent of the severely and fully financially excluded.

The paper does not comment on the reasons why financial inclusion policies have not worked, nor does it suggest any new measures that could be tried.