Reports and Submissions
Read the latest reports and submissions from FCVic on a range of topics significant to financial counsellors, consumer advocates and the wider community.
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Submission to the Essential Services Commission’s Energy Retail Code of Practice Review
- Published: 19 July 2024
- Topics: Campaigning and Systemic Advocacy
We welcome the opportunity to provide a submission to the Essential Services Commission’s (ESC) Energy Retail Code of Practice (ERCOP) Review. Our submission is informed by what our members have told us about the needs and experiences of vulnerable consumers within the Victorian energy market. We give special thanks to the members of the FCVic Utilities Working Group for sharing their expertise, experience with the most vulnerable consumers, and recommendations for regulating essential services and ensuring that they are fair for all.
Submission to the Inquiry into Food Security in Victoria
- Published: 26 July 2024
- Topics: Campaigning and Systemic Advocacy
FCVic’s submission to the Inquiry into Food Security in Victoria highlights the severe impact of rising costs of living on vulnerable Victorians, particularly regarding food insecurity. Financial counsellors report that escalating housing and food prices, coupled with limited access to healthcare, are exacerbating mental and physical health issues among their clients.
FCVic recommends a three-tiered approach: reducing the cost of staple foods, investing in preventative social and health services, and advocating for increased income support. The submission emphasises the importance of considering insights from various related inquiries to address both short-term food security concerns and long-term health impacts.
Unsettled: Climate risk and cash settlements in home insurance
- Published: 27 August 2024
- Topics: Disaster Recovery, Insurance
Unsettled draws on the frontline experiences of disaster recovery financial counsellors working in the wake of the 2022 floods across Victoria.
Financial counsellors have raised cash settlements in home insurance claims as a key problem for households. They report that insurers are relying far too heavily on cash settlements, leaving households – who believed they were fully insured – realising substantial losses, with often devastating effects on their long-term economic security.
Unsettled breaks down the issues to explore why problematic cash settlements occur, what the impacts for households are, and how policy can intervene to address each component of the cash settlement problem.
Submission to the Department of Social Services’ Centrepay Reform Consultation
- Published: 8 July 2024
FCVic welcomed the opportunity to make a short submission to the Department of Social Services’ consultation on Centrepay Reform. This submission is in addition to official correspondence to Minister Shorten on 21 March 2023, and was further discussed in the Centrepay Reform Design Workshop, led by Annette Devereaux.
We reiterate and support all the recommendations of this previous correspondence, especially those relating to preventing abuse by businesses and empowering financial capability, and encourage the Department to enact these opportunities for reform where action has not already been taken.
This submission comprises 6 recommendations.
Submission to the Victorian Government’s Consultation on Minimum Standards for Rental Properties and Rooming Houses
- Published: 1 July 2024
We welcome the opportunity to provide a submission to the Victorian Government’s Consultation on Minimum Standards for Rental Properties and Rooming Houses. Our submission is informed by what our members have told us about the needs and experiences of vulnerable clients.
We give special thanks to the members of the FCVic Utilities Working Group for sharing their expertise, experience with the most vulnerable consumers, and recommendations for ensuring housing and energy standards are fair for all.
Joint Submission to Treasury Laws Amendment (Responsible Buy Now Pay Later and Other Measures) Bill 2024
- Published: 28 June 2024
FCVic welcomed the opportunity to join with several community service and consumer advocate groups to comment on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Responsible Buy Now Pay Later and Other Measures) Bill 2024 (The Bill). This submission only addresses Schedule 2 of the Bill, relating to buy now pay later (BNPL). This submission is made on behalf of the following organisations:
- CHOICE
- Consumer Credit Legal Service
- Financial Rights Legal Centre
- Economic Abuse Reference Group
- Consumer Action Law Centre
- Redfern Legal Centre
- The Salvation Army
- Financial Counselling Victoria
- LawRight
- Financial Counselling Australia
If passed, Schedule 2 of the Bill would regulate BNPL as a low cost credit product (LCCC) under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (NCCPA). Our organisations have long advocated for BNPL to be regulated as credit, and so we welcome the Bill’s introduction to Parliament.