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 on the draft decision for the Victorian Default Offer 2024-25
- Published: 22 April 2024
- Topics: Campaigning and Systemic Advocacy, Utilities
We provided feedback on the draft decision for the Victorian Default Offer (VDO) 2024-25, firstly as part of a joint submission with other consumer advocacy bodies.
This is a joint submission made by the Victorian Council of Social Service, Consumer Action Law Centre, Energy Consumers Australia, Federation of Community Legal Centres Victoria, and Financial Counselling Victoria. 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.
Submission to the Competition and Consumer (Designated Complaints) Determination 2024
- Published: 9 April 2024
Financial Counselling Victoria has provided feedback on one component of the proposed Competition and Consumer (Designated Complaints) Determination 2024.
Submission to Treasury’s consultation on Buy Now Pay Later regulatory reform
- Published: 9 April 2024
FCVic welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to Treasury’s Buy Now Pay Later regulatory reform consultation. Our members have told us many stories about the predatory nature of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) credit providers, payday loan providers, and other low cost credit contract providers and lenders, and the negative impacts on the financial wellbeing of vulnerable Victorian clients.
We note and support the excellent consumer advocacy work by CHOICE in this field, with partners including our federal peak body Financial Counselling Australia, Financial Rights Legal Centre and Consumer Action Law Centre – to name a few.
We support all recommendations put forth by these consumer advocacy bodies in their submission to this consultation and provide a few further observations and recommendations.
Joint Submission to Treasury: Buy now pay later exposure draft materials
- Published: 9 April 2024
Financial Counselling Victoria welcomed the opportunity to provide feedback on the Exposure Draft materials proposing to regulate buy now, pay later products (BNPL) as credit. This is a joint submission made on behalf of the following organisations:
- CHOICE
- Financial Rights Legal Centre
- Consumer Action Law Centre
- Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network
- Brotherhood of St Laurence
- The Salvation Army
- Financial Counselling Australia
- Financial Counselling Victoria
- Consumer Credit Legal Service
- Redfern Legal Centre
- LawRight
Our organisations have long advocated for BNPL to be regulated as a credit product under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (NCCPA), and so we welcome the major step towards achieving this outcome that the Exposure Draft materials (ED Materials) represent. We urge the Government to finalise this legislation as a matter of priority to ensure that the framework is passed this year.
This submission contains 30 recommendations aimed at improving the ED Materials so they will better achieve their stated objectives.
Submission to Treasury’s consultation on Standard definitions and standard cover for insurance
- Published: 4 April 2024
- Topics: Campaigning and Systemic Advocacy, Disaster Recovery, Insurance
Financial Counselling Victoria has made a submission to Treasury’s consultation on Standard definitions and standard cover for insurance.
Our submission focuses on areas that are relevant to our advocacy work on post-disaster insurance issues in Victoria and is informed by what our members have told us about the needs of vulnerable Victorian clients who are struggling with these insurance issues after a natural disaster.
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.