Media Release 29 July, 2020 Consumer groups have welcomed a crackdown on debt vultures by National Australia Bank (NAB). In a statement today, NAB says it will no longer deal with unlicensed debt management providers. Consumer organisations commonly describe these businesses as “debt vultures” because of the harm they cause. Debt…
Consumer groups are extremely disappointed in ASIC’s decision not to appeal the Full Federal Court’s decision in the Westpac case to the High Court of Australia.[1] The Financial Rights Legal Centre (Financial Rights), Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action), CHOICE and Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) had supported the view,…
All of the State and Territory financial counselling associations,[1] together with Financial Counselling Australia, have joined the National Day of Action to Raise the Rate of the JobSeeker payment for good. The campaign has been coordinated by the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS). Financial counsellors across the country…
Today’s announcement by the banking industry of further assistance to help customers experiencing financial hardship will provide some important relief to those who continue to be impacted by COVID-19. CHOICE, Financial Rights Legal Centre, Consumer Action Law Centre and Financial Counselling Australia are at the forefront of helping people impacted…
Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) has welcomed a $6.8 million funding boost for financial counselling services in Western Australia as part of the state government’s WA Recovery Plan. The money will be used to increase the number of financial counsellors in Western Australia through supporting existing services and establishing a new…
Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) welcomes reported moves to permanently increase the JobSeeker Payment, once the current scheme ends in September. There are news reports today that the Federal Government is considering an increase to the payment of $75 a week, representing an additional $10 a day. “Financial counsellors urge the…
Financial Counselling Australia notes that Australia’s independent financial dispute resolution body, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, has today banned MCR Partners from accessing its services for a period of time. FCA strongly welcomes this move from AFCA. MCR Partners says it helps individuals and small business in financial hardship. This…
Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) welcomes Tuesday’s announcement of an extra $3.5 million from the Federal Government to help people affected by the devastating bushfires. The money will be used to fund financial counselling work in 22 not-for-profit organisations located in those communities most affected by the bushfires – NSW, Victoria,…
The 2020 Jan Pentland Scholarship winners were announced at a virtual “zoom” dinner this evening attended by hundreds of people across Australia and New Zealand. This year 21 people were awarded the highly sought-after scholarship, which helps people who are studying or intend to undertake study in financial counselling. “Financial counselling…
Financial Counselling Australia welcomes today’s court decision which dismissed the appeal by short-term lender Cigno and its associated company Gold-Silver Standard Finance against its banning. ASIC had used its new product intervention powers to ban Cigno and Gold Silver Standard because of the significant consumer detriment its products cause -…