FCA Conference to go Ahead (but our funding is still uncertain)

9th February 2015 – Key Points

• The FCA Conference 18^th – 20th May, 2015 in Canberra will go ahead.
• FCA’s funding has been continued until 30^th June 2015, but ongoing funding remains uncertain.
• The financial counselling sector itself has endured a tumultuous and difficult time for well over 12 months, initially due to funding uncertainty and subsequently through a bruising tender process.  Release of details about the successful tenderers, expected in the next few weeks, will be an important milestone. But it will take a few more months before the new service delivery system will be satisfactorily embedded.

FCA has been advised verbally that the Government will continue to fund the organisation until 30^th June 2015 and that they will work with us to consider longer-term options.  This is positive, but also means that our funding uncertainty continues.

The good news is that the short-term funding extension means we can continue a number of projects, including the FCA Conference in Canberra on 18^th-20^th May.

Given the long lead times in organising an event like the conference – last year there were over 500 registrations – we were already well down the track in our planning. Registration details and the draft conference program will be available in the next few days. As always, the conference will be stimulating, practical and challenging.

The financial counselling sector itself has endured a tumultuous and difficult time for well over 12 months, initially due to funding uncertainty and subsequently through a bruising tender process.  Although we are expecting the Government to release details of the successful tenderers in the next few weeks, it will take a few months still before things finally settle down.

To understand why this has been such a difficult time – and why it will continue for at least a few more months – we set out the chronology of events below.

Approx 8 months from late 2013 to May 2014: Will the sector survive?

• With the election of a new Federal Government, it is unclear whether $20 million in funding for financial counselling will continue. All funding contracts are due to expire on 30^th June 2014. The sector does its best to make the case for the continuation of the investment in financial counselling to politicians and in the media. This period of some eight months or so causes great anxiety for many people.

May 2014 Budget continues funding, Existing Contracts Extended for Six Months

• To our relief, the budget continues funding for financial counselling, albeit we are told, with some minor cuts. We find out in the next few days that the Government has re-engineered the grants program with the aim of streamlining grants and delivering efficiencies. This means that all existing services will need to tender for services into the future.
• To allow services time to tender, all existing contracts are extended until 31^st December 2014.

One month later (19^th June 2014) – Tender documents released

• The Department of Social Services (DSS) releases the tender documents.

Five weeks later  (23^rd July 2014) – Tenders are Due

• Due date for lodgement of tenders. To our knowledge, the majority of existing services re-tendered. The tender process itself takes many, many hours of work. We now sit back and wait.
• The majority of the tenders are competitive, but some are direct, including that for FCA.

Three months later (28^th October 2014) – Existing Contracts Extended for Two Months

• DSS extends funding contracts, that were due to expire on 31^st December 2014, until 28^th February 2015. This is because of the “unforseen volume of complex and high quality grant applications”. The “outcomes of the selection process will be announced by the end of December 2014.”

Two months later (23^rd December 2014) – Unsuccessful/successful tenderers advised confidentially

• Services are advised if they have been unsuccessful or are a “preferred provider” in the tender process. There is no information about the amount of funding offered to “preferred providers” or the locations. There is no public announcement.
• Services that had applied for funding in the areas of Western Australia (Outback) and the Northern Territory – are advised that this funding is not going ahead. This is to provide an opportunity to align funding with the services funded separately though income management. Affected services will have their funding contracts extended until 31^st December 2015.
• FCA is also advised that the Government is not going ahead with funding for it under this tender process.

One month later (30^th January 2015) – Existing Contracts for Most Unsuccessful Tenderers Extended for Four Months

• As details of the successful tenders have yet to be announced, the Government announces a funding extension for services which will be losing funding, until 30^th June 2015. This is to allow an adequate transition.
• Successful agencies receive offers that include amounts and locations.  This information is not publicly available as DSS and agencies may need to negotiate final details. New agreements are to take effect from 1^st March 2015.
• The organisations providing resourcing to the financial counselling sector, such as national newsletters and training, have been de-funded.

It is unclear when details of the successful agencies will be publicly released, but we are hopeful this will be by the end of February 2015. This will then allow unfunded services to begin referring existing clients to the new services and for the community sector to assimilate the new arrangements, for example, in amending information given to clients about available services in their local area.  Financial counsellors who lose their jobs may also be able to approach the new services if there are jobs available.

This whole process of settling down is going to take a few months and the extension of funding contracts until the end of June 2015 is sensible. However, the announcement may have come too late for some agencies, which had already retrenched staff.

Until the funding announcement of successful tenderers is made, we are still unclear about the impact on financial counselling service delivery. We are concerned that some areas may have lost their financial counsellors.

Financial counsellors: community-based professionals providing information, support and advocacy for people in financial difficulty.

 Anyone who is in financial difficulty can contact a free and independent financial counsellor on 1800 007 007 or visit www.debtselfhelp.org.au. 

 For comment please contact:  Fiona Guthrie 0402 426 835