Team Standing Strong
We welcome our colleagues from Alfred Health Carer Services and Southern Migrant and Refugee Centre to our shared resources page.
Standing Strong aims to raise awareness of older carers’ rights and supports with a focus on diversity and inclusion. We are working in partnership with your organisation and with the benefit of input and feedback, from both staff and participants. More about the project…
We would like to ensure that carers know about, and can connect with the free, confidential and independent support provided by financial counsellors. For many people facing financial hardship this individual assistance is what they need to get back on track. However, we believe much more can be achieved by providing people with the information they need earlier when they have more options available and can take preventive action themselves. About financial counselling…
Working together, we will develop resources and connections that build on your professional and trusted relationships with your clients – supplementing the support you provide through financial information and referral where necessary. More about our co-development process…
The resources shared here are designed to help you to gently identify any money worries your clients may be experiencing and to provide some basic assistance as a ‘bridge’ to individualised professional support (if this is needed).
Financial Conversation Leader: Self-guided training
Unpaid carers are often experiencing financial hardship or may be financially vulnerable due to the complexities of dealing with their finances in the context of their caring role. For carer professionals, these conversations that can be difficult to navigate. This is particularly true for conversations about money, or financial difficulty.
The Financial Conversation Leader session is designed to assist carer professionals to feel confident in addressing concerns around money, to provide helpful resources, promote the work of financial counsellors in your local area, and provide links and ongoing connection to relevant local services.
On completion of this session participants will be able to –
- Understand the important skills for engaging in financial conversations with an individual or group
- Apply these skills to examples where someone is sharing their financial concerns
- Identify common issues regarding financial hardship and access useful information to share
The recording below has been prepared for library professionals, but the content covered is equivalent.
A directory of local financial counselling services including details on how to refer, organised by local government area.
Guidance for organisations who would like to establish a financial counselling clinic within their setting.
Financial Conversation Leader Factsheets
A series of factsheets is provided to support your learning and for you to share directly, or tailor, to support community members.
For community use:
A collection of 10 factsheets, each of which provides a brief and practical overview of a financial service or support. Every factsheet is also accompanied by a short video, which has been translated into 10 languages.
Free programs to help you learn more about managing the household finances – this guide helps you choose a program that best suits your needs and preferred learning style
A handy checklist to help you run through the basics of staying on track with your money and identify any questions you may have
A webpage with resources for carers, including how to access the dedicated Carer Pathway to financial counselling assistance.
We know that, especially for older carers, the caring role emerges over time and may be under-acknowledged, hidden and poorly supported.
The changed family dynamic and the stress of expanding care tasks introduce vulnerabilities that are novel to the older carer. They may never have dealt with the family finances before, and never experienced financial difficulties. They may feel that money is a private matter and be reluctant to share or discuss any concerns. Newly exposed to a wide range of financial challenges, they are vulnerable to scams and financial elder abuse. The simple tasks of daily budgeting are also complicated by the world of aged care assessments and co-contributions, superannuation and the like.
For LGBTIQA+ carers, these challenges may be exacerbated as they are, or feel, under-recognised as the primary carer, and less able to obtain the support they need. These carers may also carry a history of trauma related to their LGBTIQA+ identity and entrenched family resentments.
Carers’ cultural backgrounds also influence their experience of ageing, the family context and their caring role.
This project focuses on these substantial and hidden carer groups.
Financial counsellors are qualified professionals providing free, confidential and independent support and advocacy to individuals experiencing financial hardship. Their work is person-centred and strengths-based; they listen to your story and help with options that respond to your needs and preferences. By identifying options, the financial counsellor empowers you to make better choices and improve your situation.
Financial counsellors mostly operate from non-profit agencies and work under credit licence and financial services licence exemptions which permit them to access financial information and negotiate with creditors on your behalf (with your consent). Practical assistance of this kind is of great value in resolving confusion and relieving stress.
Financial Counselling Victoria (FCVic) is the peak body for all financial counsellors operating in Victoria.
About our co-development process
These slides are from an initial briefing discussion held with each team. They include some basic information about financial counselling, our Standing Strong program and your responses to a survey on how you currently deal with clients’ money worries.
These slides are from the Financial Conversation Leader session held with each team. They contain information about the skills required to be a Financial Conversation Leader, and introduce participants to the Financial Conversation Leader factsheets and Team Standing Strong webpage.
FCVic acknowledges the support of the Victorian Government.