Financial Counselling Report

Figures in a new SA Council of Social Service (SACOSS) report paint a disturbing picture of unmanageable demand, with growing numbers of South Australians seeking financial counselling assistance as essential cost of living pressures continue to rise.


Three of the state’s largest charities – UnitingCare Wesley Adelaide, Anglicare, and the Salvation Army—together with other smaller agencies around the state have supplied data for the new report - Unsupported Debt: The Crisis in Financial Counselling in South Australia - that shows requests to their financial counselling units have jumped exponentially in the last year.



Anglicare reports an increase of 373% in the number of appointments made by South Australians needing advice to manage household budgets as cost of living pressures escalate.



SACOSS Executive Director, Ross Womersley, said “Not only are agencies reporting an increase in the number of people who need financial assistance, but people also need help in sorting escalating debts, negotiating with debtors such as utility companies, and keeping food on the table.”



“This is exactly what the free, independent financial counselling the government used to provide through Families SA AntiPoverty teams. These teams were cut dramatically in the 2010 State Budget and now the community is paying the price.”



Lynn Arnold, CEO of Anglicare, said, “Anglicare's figures reveal a system in crisis. The community sector is simply unable to meet the need for financial counselling services in this state. In November we had to close our books for financial counselling appointments until the end of the year – our staff just could not fit anyone else in.”



Simon Schrapel, Chief Executive of UnitingCare Wesley Adelaide, said “An urgent injection of funds is clearly needed if the community sector is to meet financial counselling need. People who don’t receive this early intervention end up in critical financial, personal and relationship stress, sometimes with tragic outcomes”.



Margaret Davies, Salvation Army Director Community Support Services Network, said “The Salvation Army has seen an increase not just for face to face client assistance, but also for our Doorways Financial Counselling telephone Helpline. The Helpline is a first port of call for many people, especially in the country. Many other agencies refer their clients to our Helpline. By December last year we were receiving an average of 45 calls a day, compared to 10 a day in 2010.”



Financial counselling has long been valued as a low-cost, high value early intervention measure that supports vulnerable people through crises, often avoiding deeper problems that could otherwise develop. In the 2010 State Budget the South Australian Government cut 44 full-time equivalent positions from its 120 anti-poverty services positions, and in implementing the cuts Families SA has limited any future provision of financial counselling to their clients only (i.e. those in the child protection system), leaving the rest of the population to be serviced by the community sector.



Ross Womersley said, “The sector welcomes the government’s recent decision to reverse the cuts to the Family and Community Development Program, but we still believe the government urgently needs to implement a comprehensive antipoverty strategy for South Australia. Providing adequate financial counselling assistance to South Australians in need is one critical step towards a solution. The figures in the SACOSS report simply illustrate why this is so urgent.”