Continuous Professional Development
Our CPD program enables financial counsellors to maintain and improve their knowledge, expertise and competence.
Continuous Professional Development
FCVic strives to provide a broad variety of sessions that meet the needs of the diverse workforce.
FCVic provides CPD to help members maintain their skills and uphold professional standards. The CPD program aligns to the National Standards for Membership and Accreditation, agreed to by all states and territories in 2015. Program topics are influenced by changes in law, needs expressed by financial counsellors, economic trends and emerging issues identified in the financial counselling sector.
National Standards for Membership & Accreditation
Under the national standards, there’s a requirement for full and associate members to undertake a minimum of 20 CPD points and one of each of technical, skills and ethics based sessions per year. FCVic allocates CPD points to every session in the training calendar, and allocates one or more key area that the session covers, i.e. technical, skills or ethics.
CPD points can be claimed for a variety of learning activities, including e-learning, face to face sessions, preparation of education sessions, research and so on. Allocation of points is explained in the National Standards for Membership and Accreditation. The CPD program provides various ways of meeting professional requirements, all of which are articulated in the FCVic calendar.
CPD requirements are the same for all financial counsellors, regardless of working hours. There is no pro-rata application.
Keeping a record of your CPD
It is the responsibility of members to keep their own record of CPD that they have completed.
Members need to maintain a record of their CPD points for membership renewal each year. FCVic does not report to CAV, agency managers or any other organisation on what sessions members attend. Members are able to manage their attendance records and CPD points through the FCVic Members’ Portal.
Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) also provide a number of professional development resources to financial counsellors, such as e-learning, articles and relevant information for financial counsellors to educate themselves. All financial counsellors who are members of FCVic are eligible to access the FCA Financial Counsellor Toolkit. Current FCVic members can register online here.
All practising financial counsellors should be using their National Registration Number in correspondence with creditors. Financial counsellors are automatically allocated a National Registration Number by FCA when they register for the Toolkit. If you do not have a National Registration number, you can register online.
CAV funded financial counsellors
Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) provides funding to support the CPD Program. It is available to all financial counsellors regardless of funding stream. Each CAV funded financial counsellor working full-time or part-time is required to undertake a minimum of four professional development sessions per year, of which two must be from the CPD categories listed below. Beyond this, financial counsellors are expected to undertake other professional development activities that meet their needs and membership requirements under the National Standards for Membership and Accreditation.
Core topics funded by CAV for the CPD program:
Technical – Legal knowledge and skills
- Australian Consumer Law
- Consumer Credit Law
- Debt collection and enforcement
- Bankruptcy and insolvency
- Superannuation and insurance
- New legislation and case law updates
Technical – systems knowledge and skills
- Ombudsman schemes
- Infringements and penalties
- Hardship systems
- Social Security Law
- Tenancy
- Family Law
- Injury compensation
- Family violence
Specialist skills
- Telephone financial counselling