FCVic would like to take this opportunity to provide an update on our ongoing advocacy efforts on sector funding given the pressures on the community and financial counsellors in responding to the current affordability crisis.
Background
Informed by member feedback, we released an Open Letter in October 2023, calling for immediate government investment to boost the financial counselling workforce to respond to increasing demand and complexity stemming from the affordability crisis. Thank you to the cross-sector agencies who signed on in support of our letter, and all who helped to promote the campaign.
Since we launched our campaign, it has been featured in an article in The Age with follow-up radio interviews across Radio Melbourne and Triple R. We’ve corresponded directly with state MPs from all parties, and secured and attended a number of meetings to promote the campaign. This resulted in both public and private support for our campaign from MPs through letters of on our behalf to both the Minister for Consumer Affairs and the Treasurer, and issues raised in the parliamentary chamber.
Key actions
In our meetings with MPs, we were encouraged to take two actions to support our campaign – 1) to put in an official State Budget submission, and 2) to substantiate the benefits of financial counselling to justify the continuation of service funding. We have taken both these actions.
We provided our State Budget submission to the Minister, the Treasurer and MPs. Thank you to all members and partners who contributed to the submission. We have met with a Senior Advisor to the Treasurer to advocate further for our submission, and recently corresponded again with the Minister, copying in Consumer Affairs Victoria, on our funding requests.
We worked on a scoping paper for a project to estimate the direct economic benefits of financial counselling in Victoria and its broader impact on the state economy. This project will be a critical tool for further advocacy, providing robust evidence for how financial counselling can meet community demand and avoid costs to government and the health system through avoided homelessness, mental health crises, family violence, drug and alcohol addiction, and gambling harm. We have received verbal support from some funding bodies for this proposed project, and are working to secure the financial backing of the State Government to get this project off the ground. If these are unsuccessful, we are also pursuing philanthropic opportunities.
Importantly, we’ve also met with financial counsellors across the state to discuss impacts on their service and wellbeing. This ongoing work with our members and supporters to understand changes in the sector continue to impact and inform our campaign. Updated figures, such as increased calls to the National Debt Helpline, continue to influence our messaging as we liaise with decision-makers.
What next?
We still haven’t received confirmation from the Minister or the Treasurer about the likelihood of success for our sector funding requests, despite our efforts. We continue to work on promoting our campaign and State Budget submission to decision-makers by:
- seeking signatories to a petition at this week’s Summit
- seeking assistance from influential parties, including advisors and other government figures
- promoting public awareness through different media channels
- asking for member assistance – if you live or work in the electorate of Werribee, you can help us secure a meeting with the Treasurer. Contact [email protected] to discuss this opportunity
If the need arises, we will also look at alternative ways of garnering public attention.
If you have any questions, ideas for other next steps, or statistics and case studies that might be useful as we continue our campaign, please get in touch with Amanda Chan, Advocacy Coordinator at [email protected].