FCVic has made a submission to the Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner’s (VLSB+C) Consumer Strategy consultation. Drawing on direct feedback from financial counsellors about their clients’ experiences with fee-paying legal services, the submission paints a consistent picture: people in financial hardship often can’t get timely, affordable, and appropriate legal help. When they do, poor communication, unclear costs, and hard-to-understand advice can deepen their disadvantage, and many are too exhausted, fearful, or unsure to complain.

FCVic calls for a Consumer Strategy that recognises empowerment means more than giving people information. The submission urges clearer expectations for legal services on scope, fees, and regular updates, a complaints process designed for people who aren’t confident or legally literate, and stronger regulatory attention to family violence and economic abuse, opaque fees, and debt recovery practices that ignore hardship. It also highlights the value of integrated services where lawyers work alongside financial counsellors, and the need for a regulator prepared to act on patterns of harm even when formal complaint numbers are low.