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.
Search:
Filter by topic:
Filter by document type:
Sort results:
Joint submission to the Victorian Default Offer Review 2024-2025
- Published: 21 December 2023
- Topics: Utilities
This submission represents the shared view of leading Victorian community sector organisations and energy consumer advocates. This a joint submission made by the Victorian Council of Social Service, the Brotherhood of St. Laurence, Consumer Action Law Centre, Council of the Ageing Victoria, Energy Consumers Australia, Financial Counselling Victoria, and Good Shepherd. This group brings a deep knowledge of people’s experiences navigating the Victorian electricity market and the impacts of energy hardship and poverty. Collectively, we work towards a Victoria free from all forms of hardship, where everybody can experience genuine wellbeing.
We believe that the Victorian Default Offer (VDO) has provided an important safeguard for consumers that are unable or unwilling to engage with the electricity retail market, a key benchmark price for market offers, and since September 2020, a crucial maximum price for embedded network customers. Taken together, VDO customers and those on embedded networks number over 400,000 households, businesses, and individuals.1 We strongly support the VDO playing these roles and believe it should continue to do so, while being kept at the lowest reasonable price.
However, given that the Essential Services Commission (ESC) has proposed to use generally the same methodologies as in past reviews for the 2024-2025 period, our submission identifies where there remains work to be done, and VDO cost-stack components where key assumptions and choices should be reconsidered.
Submission to the 2024/25 Victorian State Budget
- Published: 4 December 2023
Financial Counselling Victoria is pleased to present our submission to the 2024/25 Victorian State Budget.
Our strategic recommendations for the 2024/25 Victorian State Budget aim to:
- strengthen the financial counselling sector’s sustainability,
- enhance service integration across diverse sectors, and
- improve access to financial counselling for vulnerable cohorts.
Notably, these recommendations envision a future where early interventions and coordinated efforts lead to reduced financial stress and improved outcomes for all Victorians.
Submission to the House Standing Committee on Economics Inquiry into insurers’ responses to 2022 major floods claims
- Published: 31 October 2023
- Topics: Disaster Recovery, Insurance
On behalf of our members, FCVic was pleased to provide a submission to the Federal government’s Parliamentary inquiry into insurer responses to the 2022 floods.
FCVic has drawn on the experiences of financial counsellors supporting flood-affected communities, who are ensuring that residents access and receive financial support entitlements vital to ongoing recovery, including fair and reasonable outcomes to their insurance claims. The submission aims to highlight the breadth of insurance-related issues encountered by financial counsellors, which have caused significant detriment and additional trauma to their clients following their experiences of the flood events. We would like to extend our thanks to the financial counsellors in disaster recovery areas who have contributed.
FCVic 2022-23 Annual Report
- Published: 11 October 2023
Read the FCVic Annual Report for 2022-23
Submission to the Attorney-General’s Department Personal Insolvency Discussion Paper
- Published: 28 September 2023
- Topics: Bankruptcy, Debt Agreements and Insolvency
FCVic has made a submission to the Attorney-General’s Department Personal Insolvency Discussion Paper.
Victorian financial counsellors support many debtors through all stages on the bankruptcy and debt agreement process. They have experience and knowledge of both the advantages and issues with the system, particularly from the perspective of vulnerable debtors who have sought financial counselling assistance at a very stressful time.
In preparing this submission, FCVic has consulted with the members of its Bankruptcy Working Group, which comprises practitioners with a high level of experience in the subject matters raised in the discussion paper. FCVic believes that there is a place for bankruptcies and debt agreements that are reasonable, fair and equitable to debtors. However, financial counsellors see many cases where the processes are used by some creditors or debt administration businesses to either unfairly pressure debtors or as a source of fees for administrators.
Submission to the Review of Victoria’s Pre-Commitment and carded play
- Published: 20 September 2023
- Topics: Gambling related harm
FCVic has a made a submission to the Review of Victoria’s pre-commitment and card play consultation process.
Financial counsellors work with people experiencing gambling harm. They understand the distress and devasting impact gambling harm has on individuals, families, workplaces, and communities. Financial counsellors regularly hear stories of persons experiencing gambling harm who are encouraged to gamble for long periods of time, spending money that they cannot afford to lose.
The opportunity to introduce a meaningful and responsive pre-commitment and carded play program to Victoria is one that we welcome and have been advocating for since Gambler’s Help programs were introduced. Continual development of our understanding of what gambling harm is, and how we can better look after individuals and communities who experience gambling harm must be prioritised over profit margins and business growth for gambling providers.