Always a highlight of the FCVic Conference, this year’s Gala Dinner was a wonderful opportunity to honour outstanding contributions to the financial counselling profession. It was a night of celebration, connection, and recognition of the incredible individuals and teams who strengthen our sector every day.
Award Winners
We are delighted to congratulate the recipients of this year’s awards:
Jan Pentland Memorial Award – Heather Neilson
Heather Neilson was recognised for an extraordinary 40-year commitment to financial counselling. From her early social justice activism to leadership roles and systemic advocacy, Heather has consistently championed fairness and dignity for people doing it tough. Her mentoring and work with diverse communities, including the Burmese community at WEstjustice, reflect her deep compassion and unwavering drive for change.
Rising Star Award – Megan Grimshaw
Megan Grimshaw has already made a remarkable impact at Primary Care Connect. Known for her persistence, resourcefulness and empathy, Megan’s dedication sets a high bar for the future of our profession.
Team Excellence Award – Anglicare Victoria North Central Financial Counselling Team
The inaugural Team Excellence Award went to Anglicare Victoria’s North Central team for their innovative and collaborative approach to disaster recovery. From mobile counselling units to systemic advocacy influencing national reforms, their work demonstrates the power of teamwork in creating lasting impact.
Virginia Noonan Award – Julie Dal Pra
Julie Dal Pra was honoured for her pioneering work addressing financial abuse in business. Her advocacy has informed national reforms, ASIC pathways, and a pilot program to support victim-survivors. Julie’s courage and innovation exemplify excellence in service and systemic change.
Congratulations to all our award recipients – your dedication strengthens our profession and inspires us all.
Honouring Long-Serving Financial Counsellors
Our long-serving financial counsellors have been the foundation for all the work that FCVic undertakes – be it campaigns, professional development or sector support. They are leaders, mentors, and vital resources, whose wealth of knowledge and experience is invaluable to the sector and the people we assist.
This year, we recognised members who have achieved significant milestones:
10 Years of Service
Bronwyn Davis
Sereena Huebler
Melissa Malyon
Cathy McKenzie
Melody Williams
Myung Yoon
Also marking 10 years (unable to attend):
Maz Fox, Sam Levey, Stuart Lister, Angela Sanabria, Gaynor Suhr, Sharon Trebse, Michael White
20 Years of Service
Katrina Barrett
Kay Dilger
Liz Stary
Lisa Stoddart
Patrick White
Also marking 20 years (unable to attend):
Tracey Blythe
Over 30 Years of Service
Ian Liddell – 35 years
Carmel Vivian – 32 years
Also recognised (unable to attend):
Esther Gregory – 33 years, Bronny Higgs – 34 years, John Mumford – 36 years, Carmel Stafford – 36 years, Vanessa Stanton – 32 years
40 Years of Service
Heather Neilson – 40 years
Also marking 40 years (unable to attend):
Rhonda Mahoney, Margaret Taig
Please join us in congratulating these incredible individuals for their dedication, hard work and professionalism.
Reflections from John Mumford
I value the opportunity to remain a FCVic member as an Affiliate Member. This has allowed me to keep up to date with current issues.
Based on my experiences, I have long reflected that there are many Institutions (Business, Regulators and Ombudsmen) that value the knowledge and work ethic of financial counsellors […].
I worked as a casework financial counsellor for more than 25 years in Bass Coast.
During this time I had a strong commitment to community development activities. Basically, you get sick of banging your head against a brick wall by seeing the same issues time after time after time.
I eventually realised that I needed to take whatever action I could to try to address issues at the systemic level.
Fortunately, there were many financial counsellors and community lawyers based in Melbourne who were more than happy to assist me. (Some of these fine people are still around and I admire their longevity).During this period as a financial counsellor, I was appointed to a number of consumer representative positions and as a consumer director to the Boards of CUAC (Consumer Utilities Advocacy Panel), EWOV (Energy & Water Ombudsman Victoria) and CLCV (Consumer Law Centre Victoria).
Following a break after my years doing casework, I was fortunate to be appointed to lucrative consulting positions as a customer advocate to AusNet for the Electricity Distribution Pricing Reviews (EDPR) 2021-26 and 2026-31. This, in turn, has led to other opportunities to represent consumers (both paid and unpaid). When representing customers, I am always guided by my learnings from my financial counselling casework.
Thank you, John, for taking the time to reflect on your financial counselling work and journey.
