7 August 2013 - Two of Australia’s leading consumer organisations have welcomed Ms Anna Buduls’ independent report into Centrepay—a payment system which helps Centrelink recipients manage their income. Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) and Consumer Action Law Centre said the report confirmed a number of their concerns with the way the system…
15th July 2013 - Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) welcomes the launch of a new website by the Australian Bankers Association (ABA) which could help members of the public save up to $750 per annum. Launched today, the ‘Affordable Banking’ website (www.affordablebanking.info) lists all basic bank accounts offered in Australia by…
13th June 2013 - Financial Counselling Australia has today written to the Premier of Queensland, Campbell Newman, expressing disappointment that last week’s budget did not include funding for financial counselling. The letter calls on the Queensland Government to fund a dedicated financial counselling program. Queensland is now the only State and…
Financial Counselling Australia, the Consumer Action Law Centre and the Consumer Credit Legal Centre have welcomed a new hardship package released by the Australian Bankers Association (ABA) today. The package demonstrates a real commitment by the industry to improve hardship policies and practices and we appreciate the genuine consultation involved…
22nd May 2013 - State and Territory financial counselling associations from around Australia have today launched the first national “Rank the Banks” survey. The survey asked financial counsellors – who provide information, support and advocacy to people experiencing financial difficulty – to rate how well each of the ‘big four’ banks,…
22 May 2013 - Recognising and responding to economic abuse is one of the focus sessions at the annual Financial Counselling Australia conference, taking place this week in Sydney. The presenters, Sue Fraser from Kildonan Uniting Care and Tanya Corrie from Good Shepherd Youth & Family Service, will draw on a significant…
Last week’s South Australian budget is good news for people in that State struggling with credit and debt issues. The budget includes $1 million per annum for additional financial counsellors and $400,000 per annum for a specialist consumer credit legal service for the next four years. Financial counsellors – who…
1st March 2013 - Financial counsellors around Australia are today celebrating a major leap forward for the profession: legal protection of the terms “financial counsellor” and “financial counselling”. Financial counsellors work in community organisations and assist people in financial difficulty to get back on track. Funded by government, the services…
31st January 2013 - Financial counsellors have welcomed today’s release of a revised Code of Banking Practice. Banks obviously already have to comply with a number of laws – credit laws, privacy laws, fair trading laws – to name a few. The strength of a Code of Practice is that…
22nd November, 2012 - Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) has welcomed the announcement by the Federal Minister for Human Services, Senator Kim Carr, of an independent review into Centrepay. “Centrepay was set up to help Centrelink recipients budget for essential costs, such as rent and utilities,” said Fiona Guthrie, Executive Director of…