FCVic Summit

Since 2021, the FCVic Summit has offered opportunities for cross-sectoral collaborations and exploration of challenges being experienced by Victorians, with a focus on finding action-based solutions.

The FCVic Summit is a platform for showcasing new, innovative approaches; sharing best practice and research findings; and proposing bold policy recommendations for reform.

FCVic Community Disaster Resilience Summit 2026

17 March 2026 – Melbourne

Call for abstracts now open!

We are now working on the program for the next FCVic Summit.

Please check back again soon to see what exciting sessions will be on offer at the upcoming event.

In the meantime, take a look at some of the highlights from our previous events below.

We are currently accepting submissions of abstracts for presentation at our Community Disaster Resilience Summit, to be held in Melbourne in March 2026.

We welcome abstracts from anyone with an interest in disaster resilience through a financial counselling lens, including financial counsellors, researchers, industry, regulators, community workers, policy makers, students, and other experts who are interested in sharing best practice, research findings, critical reflections or case studies.

Submissions should reflect the event focus on disaster resilience and recovery. We encourage submissions that are aligned to FCVic’s Advocacy Priorities and which showcase new, innovative and industry-leading approaches to support the resilience of communities in Victoria who are at risk of experiencing a disaster.

All submissions should address the judging criteria, including how the proposed topic connects with FCVic’s advocacy priorities, and your goals for what attendees will learn or gain from the presentation.

A range of presentation formats are available, from shorter presentations of 5 minutes to 40 minute panel discussions. Alternative formats are welcome – for instance, video screenings, poster presentations, interactive sessions, handouts, and more.

How to Submit

Review the Abstract Guidelines carefully prior to submission.
Prepare your abstract and professional biography.
Click the link below to submit your abstract.

Submissions close at 5.00pm on Thursday, 18 December 2025.

Key Dates

Submissions open – Thursday 20 November 2025
Submissions close – Thursday 18 December 2025
Notification to authors – Thursday 15 January 2026
Preliminary program release – Thursday 29 January 2026

Questions?

Please send any questions to Kellie Davis, FCVic Disaster Recovery Lead at: [email protected].

Thank you to everyone who attended the FCVic 2025 Housing Summit.

This year’s event brought together financial counsellors, consumer advocates, policymakers, and industry leaders to tackle the urgent challenges facing renters and homeowners in Victoria. From powerful keynote addresses to thought-provoking panel discussions, the Summit reinforced that housing is a human right—not a commodity.

17 March | Evoqe Events, 123 Queen Street, Melbourne

9.30am – 5pm Summit at Evoqe Function Centre | 5pm – 7pm Networking event at One23 Cocktail Bar, Level 15 onsite.

Victoria continues to experience an escalating cycle of natural disasters. Recent fires and floods have once again demonstrated that the impacts extend far beyond the immediate event — affecting housing stability, financial security, mental health, community cohesion and long-term recovery outcomes.

This Summit is not about observing from the sidelines. It is about shared responsibility, collective leadership and coordinated action. The scale and frequency of disasters demand that all stakeholders are at the table — listening, learning and working together.

The Community Disaster Resilience Summit brings together:

State and local government
Financial counsellors and financial capability workers
Insurers, banks and industry
Community legal and support services
Frontline services and first responders

Creating an environment for all stakeholders to gather and address a critical question:

How do we work together — more effectively, more collaboratively and earlier — to support individuals, families and communities before, during and after disaster?

Those most severely impacted by disasters often navigate complex systems at a time of crisis: insurance claims, income loss, debt stress, housing displacement, service access and recovery pathways. No single sector can address these challenges alone. Sustainable recovery requires coordinated action, shared understanding and clear pathways between all stakeholders.

This one-day Summit provides a dedicated forum for cross-sector dialogue, practical insight and collective problem-solving. It is designed to elevate frontline experience, align policy and industry responses, and strengthen the relationships that underpin effective disaster preparedness, response and recovery in Victoria.

Contribute your voice to a whole-of-system conversation on disaster resilience
Strengthen cross-sector connections between government, industry and community services
Gain insight into the lived experiences of people and communities impacted by disasters
Explore practical opportunities to improve coordination, responsiveness and outcomes
Be part of shaping a more resilient, informed and connected disaster response framework for Victoria

Our thanks to this year’s partners:

FCVic Summit Travel Fund

With the support of our sponsor the Essential Services Commission, FCVic is pleased to announce the FCVic 2026 Summit Travel Fund.

This fund is designed to assist rural and regional financial counsellors to attend our upcoming 2026 Community Disaster Resilience Summit, to be held on 17 March 2026.

This fund is reserved for travel and accommodation costs only and does not cover the cost of the Summit ticket. Individuals (and their employers) are still required to pay for an FCVic Summit ticket. Reimbursement amounts will be calculated by a points-based formula.

Eligibility criteria:

Must be a current member of Financial Counselling Victoria
Must be located (either home or office location) further than 100km from metropolitan Melbourne, per the below map.
Eligible travel costs (receipts must be provided within 4 weeks of the conference, dated within two days of the Summit) include accommodation and transport (plane, bus, train, fuel, taxi, rideshare, parking) costs

What is the process?

Submit application through dedicated online form for FCVic review
FCVic will confirm if your application has been approved within a week, and how much reimbursement has been allocated to you
You send travel costs receipts to FCVic through a dedicated online form within 4 weeks after the Summit date.
FCVic will process reimbursement requests on a fortnightly basis.

Any questions?

Please send all questions about this travel fund to [email protected].

We thank the Essential Services Commission again for their generous support of the FCVic 2026 Summit Travel Fund.

FCVic Housing Summit 2025 at The Glasshouse, Melbourne on 27 March 2025

Message from Zyl Hovenga-Wauchope, CEO, FCVic

Since the FCVic Changing Face of Hardship Summit in March 2024, which explored the evolving landscape of financial distress in our community, we find ourselves at another critical juncture. The housing crisis that continues to grip Victoria and Australia has emerged as one of the most pressing challenges facing our community, touching everyone, everywhere, in Victoria.

The statistics tell a compelling story: rising interest rates have pushed many homeowners to their limits, while renters face unprecedented pressure in an increasingly competitive and expensive market. What makes this crisis particularly concerning is its far-reaching impact – affecting not just traditionally vulnerable groups, but also those who previously enjoyed stable housing security. Financial counsellors across Victoria report growing numbers of clients seeking assistance with housing-related stress, many of whom are navigating housing insecurity for the first time in their lives.

The FCVic Housing Summit comes at a pivotal moment. We are witnessing significant developments in the response to housing stress, from innovative programs within financial counselling services to new policy initiatives from the Victorian Government aimed at tackling the challenge. The summit will provide a crucial platform for exploring these responses, understanding emerging challenges, and sharing effective and practical strategies for supporting those affected by housing stress.

Through engaging panel discussions, expert speakers, and interactive sessions, we will examine the multifaceted nature of the housing crisis and its intersection with financial hardship. The summit will bring together financial counsellors, housing specialists, government regulators, community partners, and industry hardship teams to foster meaningful dialogue and collaboration.

We believe that by convening diverse perspectives and expertise at the Glasshouse in Melbourne, we can contribute to more effective, coordinated responses to housing stress in our community. Your participation and insights will be invaluable in shaping these conversations.

As a Summit partner, we want to place you front and centre, to meet and speak directly with the financial counsellors who represent your customers in financial hardship. Our last Summit saw over 250 people attend the event; forming many new connections and ensuring that this unique opportunity for face-to-face discussions was not wasted.

Our suite of tailored packages offer even more opportunities to build and maintain relationships within a large targeted audience. The conference programme is a constant work in progress, continuing our commitment to ensure cross-sector collaboration and increasing opportunities for networking and stakeholder engagement, whilst building the profile of your organisation.

Meet this year’s Summit Partners: