I write this today recovering from a bout of COVID and finding myself with some time to be a little reflective around the changes that we are seeing in our spaces and thinking about the myriad of activities that are happening daily on a local, state, and national level within the financial counselling sector.
Two of the biggest changes were the “changing of the guard” at Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) with the appointment of Peter Gartlan and Dominique Meyrick as co-Executive Officers and the imminent creation of the Board for the Independent Body to administer the Industry funding model. This is a big moment for our industry as it sees some new faces and takes us in a direction that has been a vision for such a long time. There is still plenty of work to do, and I want to take this opportunity to provide a quick update on what has been happening on both the state and national levels that affect us all.
On a state level: as you all know we have been undertaking the membership renewals for 2024. We are currently 460 members strong with approximately 300 practicing financial counsellors. A member survey has been recently undertaken to allow FCVic to gain valuable feedback around advocacy work and there is a review of our collective structures that is being led by Trish Dennis and Bernadette Pascoe on behalf of the Board.
The FCVic team have been submitting funding submissions to support extending financial counselling services in Victoria and was able to announce to you all the appointment of Amanda Chan in the Advocacy Coordinator role (Amanda has written an advocacy update this month – click here to read).
On a national level: Zyl Hovenga-Wauchope, Troy West and I represent Victoria at the National Representative Council. This group meets regularly during the year, with the last meeting on 12 and 13 February, and is comprised of the Peak Body EO, the Board Chair, and another nominated member from each state. Of note is the work looking at Membership standards and the desire to have a National standard that is agreed to by all states. This proves challenging, and we continue to advocate for what we believe to be the best outcome for Victorian financial counsellors.
Separately, I have been working on the Practice Standards Project that Fiona Guthrie announced at the FCVic Conference last year. This project has 1 representative from each State, along with 2 project workers to facilitate and guide the progress; I am the representative for Victoria. The project aims to create Practice Standards for financial counsellors, as well as review the Code of Ethics and will provide practical guides for financial counsellors to use in their daily practice. We were able to provide an update on this project to the National Representative Council at their last meeting and provide the first draft of work on the areas of Conflict of Interest, Best Interest of Client, Remote Practice and Third-Party Referrals. Feedback is now being sought on these whilst the project group moves to start working on Privacy, Record Keeping and Third Parties. The project is hoping to provide an update to all financial counsellors at the FCA Conference in May.
I also want to touch on what your Board has been doing. As you know the role of the Board is one of governance and oversight to allow the FCVic team to undertake their daily work in a compliant and confident manner. We have started the year with a risk review, reviewing the Terms of Reference of Board Committees, discussing the Audit tender process and the CPD Activities Policy review. The board are also looking at the FCVic Operational Plan, and Constitutional updates and ensuring that we are working on increasing revenue where we can and managing the budget activities.
I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the upcoming FCVic 2024 Summit: The Changing Face of Hardship on Wednesday 20 March. I see that there are some excellent panellists (a lovely MC!), and it will be a valuable day for everyone who attends.
In the meantime, take care.