Financial Counselling Archives - Page 6 of 10 - Consumers' Federation of Australia

8 August , 2022

Family violence, child safety, funeral insurance in awards spotlight

A tenancy advocate and financial counsellor, a domestic violence support group, a child safety program and media stories about funeral insurance were the winners of the 2022 Consumer Protection Awards. This is a media release from The Government of Western Australia: Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. It was originally published on 2nd August, 2022. The winners…

10 February , 2022

FCA welcomes tough stance by ACMA on unlawful spamming by Sportsbet

Financial counsellors applaud the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for imposing the largest penalty ever given a fine of $2.5 million on Sportsbet. This is a media release from Financial Counselling Australia. It was originally published on 10th February, 2022. The betting company will also refund customers $1.2 million after an extensive ACMA investigation found it had…

8 February , 2022

A guidance guarantee for all: Super Consumers Australia calls for improvements to retirement guidance

Quality financial advice can improve financial security, give greater peace of mind and the freedom to pursue lifestyle goals. Super Consumers Australia has used this year’s Budget submission to call for the Government to investigate solutions to guarantee trusted guidance so all Australians can achieve these same goals. This is a media release from Super Consumers Australia. It…

7 December , 2021

New report shows buy now pay later debt is causing significant financial stress

A new survey of financial counsellors about the impact of buy now pay later (BNPL) on their clients is a wake up call to the community about this new form of debt. This is a media release from Financial Counselling Australia . It was originally published on 6th December, 2021. The report’s title says it all: It’s credit, it causes…

29 November , 2021

Consumer advocates welcome recommendation for stricter controls of credit funded gambling online

Financial Counselling Australia (FCA), Financial Rights Legal Centre and the Consumer Action Law Centre welcome the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services’ recommendation for legislation to prohibit online gambling operators from accepting credit card funded deposits. This is a media release from the Financial Counselling Australia. It was originally published on 26th November, 2021. Yesterday the Committee released…

31 May , 2021

Unaisi Buli wins prestigious award

On May 19th, ICAN’s own Unaisi Buli was awarded the prestigious Jan Pentland Prize at the national Financial Counselling Australia Conference held in Darwin, in recognition of her outstanding work in financial counselling. For Unaisi, her work as a Financial Counsellor is a journey that began with seeing injustices happening to her people on a…

25 September , 2020

Consumer groups slam move to remove responsible lending laws

Removing credit protections will cause harm to people and the economy CHOICE, Consumer Action Law Centre, Financial Counselling Australia and Financial Rights Legal Centre have responded to the Government’s announcement that it will remove credit protections for borrowers saying right now what people need is more income, not more debt. Government’s proposed reforms will remove bank responsibility…

1 September , 2020

Money on your mind – campaign to improve mental and financial health

Beyond Blue and Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) are encouraging people to access free support services to cope with the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The organisations have launched the Money on Your Mind campaign to support people experiencing financial stress and mental health issues. Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows 41 per cent of…

17 December , 2019

Share your insights of bankruptcy, debt agreements and financial difficulty assistance

CFA member Nicola Howell (PhD researcher, Melbourne Law School and Senior Lecturer at QUT) is researching the impact of financial difficulty assistance/hardship variations, bankruptcy and debt agreements on consumer debtors . In the next phase of the study, Nicola is keen to hear from financial counsellors, consumer advocates, insolvency practitioners and others working in the…

10 December , 2019

Financial Counselling Australia welcomes ban on unsolicited telephone selling

Financial Counselling Australia welcomes the implementation of a ban on unsolicited telephone sales of life insurance and consumer credit insurance sold without personal advice. ASIC announced that the ban will come into effect on January 13, 2020. In the experience of financial counsellors, who work with people in financial hardship, unsolicited telephone selling targets vulnerable consumers. The…

3 December , 2019

FCA Welcomes Gambling Self-Exclusion Register

Financial Counselling Australia welcomes the bill to establish the National Online Gambling Self-Exclusion Register. The Bill was introduced this week in Federal Parliament by the Minister for Communications, the Hon. Paul Fletcher. The register means that people experiencing harm can press one button and self-exclude from all the online wagering companies. With that single trigger, the wagering operators…

15 November , 2019

First Nations Foundation launches word-first financial literacy program

First Nations Foundation (FNF) has launched the world’s first digital financial literacy education program to help First Nations people develop their financial knowledge. While the content of My Money Dream has been developed by Indigenous people for Indigenous people, FNF has added the might and scale of Australia’s largest industries by offering this to the…