Providing Timely Assistance: Financial Counselling at Peachey Place
Extending financial counselling service provision in the state has long been a central aspect of Wyatt’s grant-making strategy. As an organisation providing financial assistance to South Australians experiencing poverty, Wyatt firmly believes that financially vulnerable South Australians should have access to free, impartial advice and assistance in times of financial difficulty. Financial Counsellors play a significant role in our community – working with clients to explore their financial options and address their financial difficulties; providing clarification regarding credit, debt and consumer rights; and providing clients with the tools and information required to gain or regain control of a household budget.
Wyatt’s partnership with Lutheran Community Care (LCC) is just one example of how funding can successfully extend financial counselling service provision to reduce unmet need in our state. Commencing in 2010, the partnership was established to provide financial counselling to individuals and families from a refugee background in the Peachey Belt area. With Wyatt’s Trust Deed focus on low-income individuals and families who have lived in South Australia for five years or more, the project assists people of a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) background who have been in the state for more than five years, and so are no longer eligible for Commonwealth-funded settlement services.
Through this partnership, Wyatt funding ensures that there is greater availability of appointments for CALD clients through LCC’s Peachey Place initiative. The service delivers tailored information regarding the Australian financial system and an improved awareness of budgeting strategies, concession eligibility, debt management and credit processes. As well as providing practical household budgeting tools and assistance, the service’s Financial Counsellors also play a vital advocacy role for clients, as well as linking them in to other relevant community services.
In the first half of the 2011-2012 financial year, the partnership has facilitated the delivery of an additional 453 financial counselling appointments at Peachey Place, providing 638 hours of advocacy and assistance for LCC’s CALD clients. Speaking of the service provision, Helen Lockwood, Director of Lutheran Community Care, notes: “It is great to be assisting New Arrivals in Playford as they learn how to understand and use their money in Australia. We help people deal with all sorts of household financial issues such as bills, school expenses and taxation enquiries using a team of CALD and Australian financial counsellors. This vital service is made possible through Wyatt’s support.“
