Becoming a financial counsellor
To practice as a financial counsellor in Australia, you must:
- hold the Diploma of Financial Counselling,
- be eligible for membership of your state financial counselling association by satisfying the annual requirements for continuous professional development and professional supervision, and
- be employed by a financial counselling agency.
About the Diploma
FCVic supports the delivery of the nationally accredited Diploma of Financial Counselling, which is the required qualification to practice as a financial counsellor in Australia. Financial counselling diploma students are eligible for Student Membership with FCVic.
The Diploma of Financial Counselling comprises 17 units of study, including 220 hours of structured work placement in a financial counselling agency. The course duration is 1-2 years depending on the training provider and whether it is undertaken full-time or part-time.
Financial counselling is an intense job and the diploma course is demanding, requiring at least 10 -12 hours per week of additional study outside the classroom.
Financial counselling is a unique blend of legal and advocacy work delivered within a counselling model of practice and a framework of social justice. The course includes areas of Australian Consumer Law, Credit Law, Social Security Law and a number of other legislative frameworks as well as learning counselling and individual and systemic advocacy.
Scholarships
From time to time providers may offer scholarships. FCVic will post information about these on this webpage where we are aware of opportunities.
Jan Pentland Foundation
Each year the Jan Pentland Foundation makes several scholarships available to people who they believe will make a great contribution to the financial counselling sector but require some financial assistance to complete the Diploma of Financial Counselling.
These scholarships cover costs associated with the diploma up to $5000. The Foundation invites people from all backgrounds to apply, and encourages applications from people who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and people with a refugee background.
Visit The Foundation’s website for more information and to apply.
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is a process that may enable students to gain formal recognition of their previous work and life experiences without the need for additional study or training.
The student needs to demonstrate competence in all elements of the relevant unit/s through collection of evidence. Several types of evidence are required for each element/unit; some types of evidence can support a number of units, e.g. resume, position descriptions, etc.
The RPL process is assessed by the training provider, and relevant fees, forms and details will be explained by the training provider of your choice.
Credit Transfer
Students with existing qualifications may already have completed equivalent units in another course. If this is the case, and the course codes are identical, a student may be eligible for a credit transfer. There’s no cost for a credit transfer.
This process is managed by the training provider, and enquiries should be directed to the training provider of your choice.
Working as a financial counsellor
Financial counsellors are qualified professionals employed by financial counselling agencies to provide information, advice, assistance, advocacy and support to people experiencing or vulnerable to financial difficulty and/or with debt problems, to empower them to make informed choices.
Financial counsellors have extensive knowledge in a range of areas of law and policy including consumer law, credit law, debt enforcement practices, the bankruptcy regime, hardship policies and practices in a range of industries, internal and external dispute resolution schemes and government concession frameworks, and other specific areas. Financial counsellors are also highly skilled in working with people experiencing vulnerability in a supportive and empowering framework. A fundamental tenet is a focus on person-centred practice. This places the person at the centre of the engagement with control over the process and decisions.
Financial counsellors are employed by agencies – typically not-for-profit community organisations – that operate under specific sub-regulations of the Corporations Regulations 2001 and the National Consumer Credit Protection Regulations 2010. These sub-regulations permit the organisations to provide financial counselling services without holding a financial services or credit licence, subject to services being provided by trained, qualified and professionally accredited financial counsellors.
The conditions of the exemption require the financial counselling service to be free, independent and without conflict. The requirement for no conflict means industry cannot directly fund financial counselling positions, which are primarily funded by state or federal governments, or through philanthropic sources.
A financial counsellor is not a:
- financial planner
- financial advisor
- accountant
- finance broker
- legal advisor
- business advisor
- therapeutic counsellor
- case manager
Volunteering as a financial counsellor
While financial counselling is required to be a free service to anyone experiencing financial hardship, its practitioners are qualified professionals, employed within the scope of the sub-regulations of the Corporations Regulations 2001 and the National Consumer Credit Protection Regulations 2010. As professionals, practitioners are almost always paid employees. Sometimes a financial counsellor may work as a volunteer in that role, but whether or not they are paid, the work must be done as part of an agency that satisfies the conditions of the regulations.
For this reason, volunteer financial counsellor roles are uncommon, and mostly occur in circumstances where an organisation is seeking to build a case to apply for funding to address a service gap. Anyone practising as a financial counsellor, whether paid or voluntary, is required under the regulations to be eligible for membership of their state financial counselling body (in Victoria that is FCVic), which involves undertaking regular training to ensure their practice meets professional standards.
There are other roles working alongside financial counselling that may provide avenues for volunteer work, such as financial literacy or financial capability worker roles, which do not have the same regulatory and professional requirements as financial counselling.
Regulatory landscape
Credit and financial services licensing exemption for financial counselling agencies
Financial counsellors are employed by agencies – typically not-for-profit community organisations – that operate under specific sub-regulations of the Corporations Regulations 2001 and the National Consumer Credit Protection Regulations 2010.
These sub-regulations permit the organisations to provide financial counselling services without holding a financial services or credit licence, subject to services being provided by trained, qualified and professionally accredited financial counsellors.
The conditions of the exemption require the financial counselling service to be free, independent and without conflict. The requirement for no conflict means industry cannot directly fund financial counselling positions, which are primarily funded by state or federal governments, or through philanthropic sources.
To be eligible for the licensing exemption, the financial counselling agency must ensure that they satisfy the following conditions:
- Financial counsellors do not give advice to clients about purchasing investment products, such as shares or managed investments; and
- No fees or charges are paid by clients for any aspect of the financial counselling service; and
- The financial counselling agency is likewise unable to be remunerated (including by commission) directly or indirectly in relation to any action of the client; and
- The financial counselling agency does not operate or participate in a financial services business beyond the scope of this relief, and takes all reasonable steps to ensure that none of its employees do so
- Individual financial counsellors must also be members of, or be eligible to be members of, a state financial counselling body. Membership requirements themselves set standards about conflicts of interest and professional requirements and conduct.
- Financial counsellors must be appropriately educated
Restriction on the use of the terms "financial counsellor" and "financial counselling"
The National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 restricts the use of the terms, “financial counsellor” and “financial counselling” and similar terms of similar meaning. The restriction means that only financial counselling agencies who meet the exemption from an Australian Credit Licence can use the restricted terms.
Financial counsellors provide free, confidential and independent services. The purpose of the restriction is to ensure that Credit Licence holders who are not financial counsellors do not mislead people by representing their services as financial counselling (when they are not).