Seniors Festival outreach by financial counsellors to older people at regional libraries across the state
Right now, we are seeing the impact of rising living costs, such as soaring food, fuel and energy prices, leaving more people facing financial hardship. This is of particular concern for older Victorians managing on limited incomes, which is why our ‘Financial Wellbeing for Seniors’ morning tea events have been a great way to let more people know that help is available from financial counsellors, along with the collection of resources to support financial capability.
Throughout October, FCVic supported financial counselling agencies across bushfire-affected regions to outreach to older Victorians at public libraries during the annual Seniors Festival, to connect them with their local financial counselling service.
Experienced financial counsellors were available to discuss concessions, utility grants, perform a ‘financial health check’ and chat about financial counselling during these difficult times.
These conversations happened over morning tea and were designed to be a soft entry to talking about financial hardship, which can often be a difficult and confronting conversation. It is important for attendees to feel safe and secure to discuss any financial concerns, while also being supported to explore the resources that are available to help them.
During these events, financial counsellors shared resources that helped assess attendees’ financial health, build their financial capability, and connect them to a financial counsellor in their local area if they need further assistance or advocacy. We shared and discussed the ‘Quick Guides’ videos and factsheets, available in 11 languages, as well as introduced a short video about the financial mistreatment of older people by family and friends, which can be difficult to face alone, but is much easier in a supportive group environment. Older people may not be aware that the financial demands made by family and friends can lead to financial mistreatment or elder abuse.
The Senior Library Programs Officer at the East Gippsland Shire Library in Bairnsdale said, “Bec and Tammy [local financial counsellors] were outstanding… We had a great deal of verbal feedback that the Financial Wellbeing for Seniors program was very informative and enjoyable with several customers explaining that they would now go to their friends and family to share what they had learned and pass on the knowledge of those resources to their circles which is brilliant.”
Online financial elder abuse training for community agencies
Financial elder abuse is a serious concern that affects at least 1 in 6 older people. To inform professionals working with older people about the signs of financial elder abuse, and how to safely respond, FCVic delivered interactive webinars ‘Understanding Financial Elder Abuse’ earlier this month.
Over 100 care and case managers in bushfire affected regions, working with older people in their homes, participated in the free webinars. The participants heard from a senior financial counsellor, discussed how to identify financial elder abuse, and learned what supports are available regionally for older people experiencing financial hardship or abuse. The sessions were also recorded to share with participants who couldn’t attend the online learning sessions.
Session participants provided positive feedback on the webinars, saying “Overall, I found this session to be very satisfactory, comprehensive background information and case studies highlighted the complexity and diversity. Thanks very much for the session.”
Another participant commented, “definitely can see where it has happened even with the elderly in my own life.”
Elder Abuse Community of Practice and professional development for financial counsellors
Earlier this year, FCVic reconvened its Elder Abuse Community of Practice for financial counsellors. The group has met twice already to discuss case studies, ethical dilemmas, systemic issues and hear from key agencies around collaboration when working with older people around financial elder abuse.
During the FCVic Conference, held in October 2023, two breakout sessions were held to provide financial counsellors and other delegates an opportunity to discuss and understand how best to keep protect and preserve the safety of an older person, when sometimes having to work with perpetrators of financial elder abuse. Participants learned ways to work without collusion and avoiding further harm to the older person.
FCVic is updating its elder abuse e-Learning for financial counsellors, which will include the voices and perspectives of older people, and what financial counsellors need to be aware of when working with them.