October—what a month! The dust has (just) settled from our Conference, and we’re busy continuing the conversations it sparked and working on the ideas it inspired. You can read more about the Conference here, along with information about this year’s award-winning members. My personal congratulations to the award recipients, all of whom encapsulate the spirit of financial counselling through passion, dedication, and innovation.
During the FCVic Update at the Conference, I was pleased to announce that we will be hosting a Housing Summit in March 2025. Housing was a prominent topic in many presentations and professional development sessions, and recent reports, such as Everybody’s Home Priced Out 2024 report and Anglicare’s 2024 Rental Affordability Snapshot, highlight the challenging housing landscape. We believe it will be valuable for the sector to come together to discuss the future of housing and the role of financial counselling in shaping it. We look forward to sharing more details of this event with our members and readers shortly.
Another important gathering took place this month with last week’s Representative Council meeting, where the profession came together to discuss major issues and trends. Much like the conversations we all have at the Conference or Summit, having the time and space for discussion and sharing is crucial to identifying the issues and trends we should focus on. We also farewelled Anne Crouch as the outgoing chair of FCA and welcomed Vicki Penner and Carolyn Piper as new directors. Many thanks to Anne for her years of service and dedicated leadership in advancing the financial counselling profession, and congratulations to Vicki and Carolyn.
Looking ahead, we’re currently preparing our draft 2025–26 State Budget Submission, which will be provided this month following extensive consultation with members, including an online workshop and well-utilised survey. Following the success of our 2024–25 submission, this Budget submission is an opportunity to engage with government on the future of financial counselling services and sector needs, addressing current unmet needs while also building towards a more sustainable future. We’re also pleased to see that the Expression of Interest process through Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) has progressed to the next phase, and we’re keen to see how new services will be developed.