financial hardship

A drawing of a piece of white paper with a pie chart at the top and writing at the bottom, both in blue ink. The background behind the drawing is a light grey with a shadow extending from the page to the bottom right. A drawing of a piece of white paper with a pie chart at the top and writing at the bottom, both in blue ink. The background behind the drawing is a light grey with a shadow extending from the page to the bottom right.

The number of complaints from First Nations people to the financial services ombudsman rose by 13% last financial year, with scams, delays in insurance claim handling and service quality the most common issues. 
More than one in 10 complaints from First Nations people related to financial hardship, double the one in 20 complaints involving financial hardship from the overall population.
AFCA says while the total number of complaints from First Nations consumers generally mirrors the proportion of the population, more still needs to be done to improve the cultural competency of the service to ensure accessibility to the ombudsman as well as financial inclusion.

Read More First Nations People More Than Twice as Likely to Receive Poor Financial Hardship Service

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The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has welcomed the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council’s (ECMC) decision to progress work on a proposed package of Game changer reforms that will deliver significant improvements in outcomes for energy consumers experiencing vulnerability.

Under the comprehensive package, consumers would receive concessions they are entitled to and those in hardship would receive their retailer’s best offer to help them lower their bills.

Read More ‘Game changer reforms’ for Vulnerable Consumers will Progress

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Original media release from ECA (23/11/2023). Energy Consumers Australia (ECA) CEO Brendan French, quoted in response to the Capacity Investment Scheme: quote Energy Consumers Australia CEO Brendan French: “Energy Consumers Australia welcomes this morning’s announcement which is both an important step in providing reliable supply to consumers and also a continued firm commitment by Federal…

Read More Energy Consumers Australia Welcomes Announcement of Capacity Investment Scheme, Calls for More Work for Consumers

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Financial Counselling Australia is delighted with today’s Government announcement about the establishment of an independent body to accept contributions from industry to fund financial counselling services.
The implementation of an industry funding model, with funding administered by an independent body, was recommended by the Sylvan Review of financial counselling in March 2019. This was an appropriate, and innovative, response to the problem of long waiting lists to see a financial counsellor, including some people being turned away.

Read More Financial Counselling Sector Applauds the Launch of New Funding Model

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Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) has filed a class action in the Federal Court of Australia against Taylors Business Pty Ltd. The lead plaintiff, a Victorian woman, represents herself and a group of Taylors Business customers who pawned goods of value to them, but can no longer access their goods because the business has been shut down. Consumer Action became involved when we had a spike of enquiries to our frontlines from affected customers, many distraught at the prospect of losing their items.

Read More Class Action Launched in Federal Court Against Pawnbroker ‘Taylors Business’

Fraud Alert

According to the National Anti?Scams Centre (NASC) financial losses to job and employment scams have increased by over 740% in 2023.

Scammers are targeting jobseekers with lucrative offers to complete tasks, tricking unsuspecting victims into handing over their hard?earned money.

Australians have reported losses of $20 million to employment scams this year alone.

Read More Australian’s Urged to Be Alert to Rapidly Rising Employment Scams

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The proposed standard will apply to all carriage service providers who deal with residential, small business and not-for-profit customers. It will enhance protections for telco customers who are (or may be) experiencing financial hardship through the provision of information and appropriate financial support to help them meet their payment obligations and remain connected to essential telco services.

The standard must be made by 15 February 2024 and commence by 29 March 2024.

We invite submissions on the draft Telecommunications (Financial Hardship) Industry Standard 2024 by 5 pm (AEDT) on Friday 24 November 2023.

Read More ACMA consults on new protections for telco consumers in financial hardship

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“If lotteries get this carve-out and people can use credit cards, it will be the thin edge of the wedge. They will then get carve-outs from future advertising and inducement reforms. We’ll regret this mistake when lotteries are advertised day and night and people increasingly spend large sums of money.”

Ms Levin said lotteries were no longer harmless fun as portrayed by providers. They were now also a far cry from the benign, government-owned public sweeps that we remember from childhood, and which had legislation that mandated donating money to charitable causes.

Read More ‘Not harmless fun’ – Advocates Call for Credit Card Ban to Extend to Scratchies and Lottery Tickets