Image: Winterfield Funding.
After much badgering from councils and the financial counselling sector, the Western Australian government reversed a controversial decision to defund the state’s financial counselling services.
Now the Colin Barnett government will allocate $2 million a year through to 30th June, 2018 to support the state’s existing telephone services as well as initiate a new face-to-face service to help counsel the state’s most financially vulnerable.
Previously, the existing telephone service was provided through the Department of Child Protection and Family Services, but in August 2015 it advised that it would no longer provide a budgetary allocation for financial counselling services and it would be defunded from October 2015.
This move provoked a backlash from the local government and financial counselling sector, who were concerned about the impact it would have on communities and vulnerable people experiencing financial stress.
But the government has responded to the feedback it received following its initial defunding announcement and has now transferred the responsibility of funding for financial counselling to the Department of Local Government and Communities.
It’s a new move that WA Minister for Community Services Tony Simpson said the state government had worked closely with representatives from the financial counselling sector to develop.
“We listened to the sector and acknowledge they had concerns about their ability to support vulnerable people through a financial counselling telephone advice line only,” Mr Simpson said.
Mr Simpson said with this funding, there will continue to be a mix of face-to-face services and telephone support for vulnerable people who are experiencing financial hardship and require assistance to manage their situation.
“The new service delivery model improves the efficiency and effectiveness of taxpayer funded financial counselling support and provides certainty for the sector,” Mr Simpson said.
According to Mr Simpson, transferring financial counselling to the Department of Local Government and Communities enabled the Department for Child Protection and Family Support to focus on services which promoted the safety and wellbeing of at-risk children and their families.
In addition to the $2 million per year, the state government is also spending $5.75 million on financial counselling in the 2015-16 financial year, with another $8.2 million allocated in the 2015-16 State Budget for Hardship Utility Grant Scheme grans to utilities customers experiencing financial hardship.
The Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) has praised the move by the state government, calling its “backflip” a win for communities.
WALGA President Lynne Craigie said local governments and the financial counselling sector have been able to demonstrate the increased benefit provided by face-to-face counselling services.
“Particularly at a time when many more people are expected to be facing increasing financial hardship,” Ms Craigie said.
Ms Craigie said the transfer of responsibility for funding to the Department of Local Government and Communities was better suited to the Department’s objectives and congratulated the Minister for his swift action to ensure services would continue.
“People in the community requiring these services are often at a breaking point in managing their financial situation and to be denied access to services for even a few months could be devastating,” Ms Craigie said.
She said it is important that the state allocates the new funding to services across the metropolitan area to ensure services are easily accessible.
