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 Select Committee on the Cost of Living
- Published: 28 March 2024
- Topics: Campaigning and Systemic Advocacy, Housing, Social Security and Centrelink, Utilities
FCVic has made a submission to the Select Committee on the Cost of Living. The cost of living pressures of recent years has created significant increased demand for financial counselling services, with reported wait times of over two months at many services. Financial counsellors are now seeing more and more middle-income earners who, for the first time, simply can’t afford to pay their bills.
Our submission focuses on areas that are relevant to our work in Victoria and is informed by what our members have told us about cost of living pressures experienced by vulnerable Victorians.
Our submission entails 16 recommendations to the Select Committee.
Submission to the ACMA’s Consultation on Compliance Priorities 2024-25
- Published: 22 March 2024
- Topics: Hardship: Industry Practice, Telecommunications
FCVic has made a submission to Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) consultation on compliance priorities for 2024-25. Our submission focuses on areas that are relevant to our work in Victoria and ACMA’s remit and is informed by what our members have told us about the needs of vulnerable Victorian clients.
Our recommendations cover the following priority areas:
- Improving providers’ financial hardship practices
- Protecting against gambling harm
- Protecting against scams
- Acceptance of third party authorisations
Submission to the National Tax Clinic Program – Consultation Paper
- Published: 14 February 2024
- Topics: Small Business, Taxation
FCVic strongly supports the National Tax Clinic Program and welcomes the commitment to expand the number of clinics by 5 from 1 January 2025.
We recognise the significant challenges faced by small business owners and vulnerable individuals in financial difficulty, when their tax affairs are not up to date. In the case of small business owners, this can result in a business’ tax liability being imposed on the individual owner and may restrict a business owner’s access to Centrelink benefits if business tax returns are outstanding. In those cases, small business owners unable to afford the cost of a tax accountant are reliant on the support provided through the Tax Clinics.
We acknowledge the key activities of the National Tax Clinic program. We believe that the program must primarily address the need for small business owners to lodge outstanding tax returns.
Our submission to the National Tax Clinic Program – Consultation Paper provides feedback and recommendations to ensure the program can best and support financially vulnerable individuals and small businesses.
Submission to the next stage in Victoria’s work to end family violence
- Published: 2 February 2024
- Topics: Family Violence
Financial Counselling Victoria welcomes the opportunity to make this submission to the consultation on the Victorian State Government’s Third Action Plan to End Family Violence as part of Victoria’s 10-Year Plan for Change.
A community-wide approach is integral in achieving the vision that all Victorians are safe, thriving and living free from family and sexual violence and abuse. The lens we bring to this submission is to create a greater understanding of the complexities and breadth financial and service systems abuse, ongoing gender inequality and the integral role financial counsellors play in working with victim-survivors, adults using family violence and across the family violence service system.
Submission to the Review of Financial Wellbeing and Capability Programs
- Published: 2 February 2024
FCVic has provided a submission into the Department of Social Services’ Review of Financial Wellbeing and Capability Programs. Our submission focuses on areas that are relevant to our work in Victoria. We acknowledge the importance of long-term funding and note the Department’s extended funding for the sector announced recently.
Submission to the General Insurance Code Governance Committee 2024/25 Monitoring and Compliance Priorities consultation
- Published: 30 January 2024
- Topics: Disaster Recovery, Insurance
FCVic has made a submission to the General Insurance Code Governance Committee’s consultation on its 2024-25 Monitoring and Compliance Priorities.
The submission drew on the experiences and insights of disaster recovery financial counsellors, and relate to the Code Part 9: Supporting customers experiencing vulnerability; Part 8: Making a Claim, and Part 12: Access to information.
Financial counsellors have reported to FCVic on widespread poor practice by insurers, specifically around treatment of vulnerability of customers and transparency during claims processes. The failure of Code subscribers to recognise and appropriately support customers following these types of extreme events has exacerbated insurance customers’ distress and impeded their recovery. This places insurers at risk of causing additional harm and detriment to their customers.
Our submission makes a number of recommendations to the Code Governance Committee to prioritise these parts of the Code, and to work with the financial counselling sector to improve insurer practices.