As I sit to write this report, I am still beaming with so much joy for our amazing sector and the wonderful day many shared attending our COVID Industry Summit, held last Thursday 22 April. What a day! We had 300 people attend in person, and almost 40 join via live stream. The laughs we shared with our hilariously funny MC Justine Sless; the discussions from all our panelists; the amazing venue; and, of course, the many people we were able to meet anew and friends we were reconnected with. It was a great day had by all and something people had longed to enjoy – an in-person event, held in a COVID safe way.

The evening continued with another first – FCVic launching their history book: Financial Counselling in Victoria: the first 40 years. The event saw over 200 people in attendance, including long serving experienced and retired financial counsellors, joined by many friends, partners and colleagues from government, the community sector and industry, all there to mark this occasion. The book was formally launched by the CEO of Victoria Legal Aid, Louise Glanville, followed by our very talented author, James Degenhardt, who shared a few words about his journey in writing it. I would like to congratulate James on the wonderful job he has done, along with recognising the huge efforts of Sandy, all FCVic staff and Melanie Keenan from Defining Events in organising both events.

With May around the corner, many will be looking forward to the Financial Counselling Australia conference, which is this year being held in Darwin. With the pre-conference proceedings kicking off on Monday 17 May it is sure to be a very busy week full of many learning opportunities and networking, all while getting to explore some of the amazing sights Darwin has to offer.