Financial counsellors welcome today’s commitment by the banking industry to better banking (www.betterbanking.net.au), including making financial hardship support programs more accessible and setting up a debt repayment service. But the big question remains: why is there still no funding for financial counselling? Most of the clients seen by financial counsellors have debts…
Financial Counselling Australia is delighted to announce the membership of its inaugural Board under its new constitution. The Board comprises four financial counselling directors and three appointed, external directors. The four financial counselling directors are: Carmel Franklin (Chair), Kay Dilger, John Harte and Rosalyn Williams. The three appointed directors are:…
Joint media release from FCA, Financial Rights Legal Centre, Consumer Action and the Australian Privacy Foundation. Veda Advantage Information Services and Solutions Ltd (Veda) is being forced to refund thousands of consumers who paid to obtain credit reports under Veda’s expedited delivery deal, according to a decision handed down today…
8th December 2016 - Financial counsellors are appalled with news today that Best and Less are now encouraging their customers to take out payday loans and other high cost credit products. Loans with effective interest rates ranging from 48% to 400% per annum are not in the best interests of…
Joint media release from FCA, Consumer Action and Financial Rights Legal Centre: Following the slew of financial scandals Australians have faced in recent years, consumer advocates say that Australians need simple and accessible justice with reformed Ombudsman services. The Review of the Financial System External Dispute Resolution and Complaints Framework…
From today, people struggling to pay their bills and debts will find it easier to access trustworthy information and advice that will help them get back on top. Today (Wed 7 Dec 2016) Financial Counselling Australia, with special guest Paul Clitheroe, are launching the new National Debt Helpline website and…
Financial Counselling Australia is pleased to support the release on Friday 25th November 2016 of the first Financial Inclusion Action Plans from 12 trailblazers in industry, community and government. Financial Inclusion Action Plans have the potential to address some significant problems in our community including a lack of access to…
29 November 2016: Financial Counselling Australia welcomes the pledge from the State, Territories and Federal Government to establish a strong consumer protection framework for online gambling. “We congratulate Minister Alan Tudge in developing this framework in a consultative way and for doing it quickly. Although there is still a lot…
30th November 2016 - Financial counsellors - who help hundreds of Australians with financial services disputes each year - have provided overwhelming support for the merger of the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Credit & Investments Ombudsman into a one stop financial complaints ombudsman service. Seventy-five percent of financial counsellors…
21st October 2016 - To coincide with anti-poverty week, Financial Counselling Australia has today released “Financial Counselling: It Makes a Difference” a compendium of 65 case studies from the files of financial counsellors. Many people don’t know or understand what a financial counsellor does - they are often confused with…