DSS uses clear slogan in campaign
DSS used community scenarios on a poster to show when people needed to let the department know about changes of circumstances.
Right story – right money. That’s how it is with Social Security.
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This poster is part of the ‘Right story, right money’ campaign that the Department of Social Security (DSS) ran in the 1990s. The campaign encouraged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to let DSS know about changes so they got the right payment.
This poster shows different scenarios where people need to tell DSS about changes to their circumstances.
Poster design
Chips Mackinolty created the poster. He was a prominent printmaker at Green Ant Research Arts and Publishing in Darwin. Lots of the materials Green Ant produced were political, so it’s unusual that DSS chose them to create these posters. However, Green Ant’s long involvement with Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory meant they understood how to make visually engaging materials with clear language that best communicated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
A panel from the poster was also reproduced on a t-shirt.
Communication campaign
As part of the ‘Right story, right money’ campaign, DSS commissioned other engaging communication material. In 1991, the popular rock and reggae group Blekbala Mujik produced a one-minute catchy and upbeat song about keeping DSS informed of changes to details.
DSS included the ‘Right story, right money’ song in a video about government payments that was made in the Torres Strait Islands. The video was translated in 4 different languages: English, Yumplatok, Miriam Mer and Kala Kawa Ya.
Other examples of DSS’s communication to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the early 1990s include the Important News! poster and the Top up money for kids comic.
Chips Mackinolty gifted the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) a large collection of artworks in 1993. The NGA holds 2 versions of the original poster and a t-shirt in their collection.
Permissions
Permissions to reproduce this poster and t-shirt were granted by Chips Mackinolty and by the NGA.
Citation
Mackinolty C (1990) Right story, right money [screenprint poster 98 x 145 cm], Green Ant Research Arts and Publishing for the Department of Social Security, Darwin.
Mackinolty C (1990) Right story, right money [screenprint t-shirt], Green Ant Research Arts and Publishing for the Department of Social Security, Darwin.