In a room full of poor but confident women entrepreneurs, I asked how many borrowed from moneylenders before they came to SEWA. About half the women raised their hands. When asked how many thought of approaching a regular bank before they came to SEWA’s cooperative bank, not one raised her hand.
It is true that the ACT and NT boast higher figures, but they are very unusual cases, being heavily influenced by the effects of government employment and/or subsidies, not to mention being quite small. It would take quite a few years at the current pace of growth for the other states to catch up to WA.