D E C E M B E R
2 0 1 6
-
I S S U E
2 3 7
JOURNAL OF THE FINANCIAL AND
CONSUMER RIGHTS COUNCIL.
ADVANCING THE RIGHTS OF VULNERABLE VICTORIANS
Devil’s
Advocate
Complete Conference
wrap-up:
all the highlights
CAV’s Family Violence
Initiative
Sayema’s
story
CONTENTS
Chair’s Report
Julie Barrow
4
Executive Officer’s Report
Peter Gartlan
5
Conference keynote speech from Adele Ferguson
6-9
2016 Victorian Financial Counsellors Conference summary
10-11
Conference award recipients
12-13
Industry bodies.
FCA survey shows support for FOS and CIO merger
14
Our next issue will be
Rank the Telco survey
15
EWOV wants to visit you!
15
Sayema’s story
16
Telephone supervisors wanted
17
MoneyHelp to National Debt Hotline
17
CAV’s Family Violence Initiative
18-19
Credit cards and SACC loans galore
20
News in brief
21
Bank tribunal proposal
22
DemandARefund.com
23
New video helps consumers to find a better energy offer
24
Debt vultures—Share your story
25
CALC 2015/16 Impact Report Summary
26
La Trobe Student Union joins
National Financial Literacy Strategy
27
Got something
to say?
The Devil’s Advocate
accepts contributions
from financial
counsellors, lawyers,
related community
sector organisations,
government
departments and
a special end of year
edition. The deadline
for the next edition is
16 DEC.
Submissions can be
directed to
[email protected].
Articles can also be
submitted for the DA’s
sister publication, the
FCRC Gazette. It is
generally circulated
only on a needs basis,
and only to FCRC
members.
All submissions are
subject to editorial
oversight.
We’d like to thank all
contributors to this
edition.
2
Current Board
Members
Chair:
Julie Barrow
Treasurer:
Mark Phillips
Secretary:
Kay Dilger
Board
Members:
Cathy Clark
Jenny Elvey
Colin Harte
Lisa Stoddart
External Board
Members:
Norm McMurray
Staff Members
Executive Officer:
Peter Gartlan
Special Projects:
Bernadette Pasco
Communications
Manager &
Devil’s Advocate
Editor:
James Degenhardt
Manager—Policy and
Campaigns
Tom McIntosh
Training Coordinator
Anna Lienhop
Accounts:
Ron Rowley
Rank the Telco
Project Coordinator
Lisa Farrance
3
A word from the Chairperson
Julie Barrow
It was great to see so many financial
counsellors, industry and government
representatives at our recent state
conference. We were privileged to hear from
award winning journalist Adele Ferguson who
has been instrumental in breaking stories in
advocating for change for consumers affected
by poor practice in the finance industry. In
particular, the Four Corners report into
CommInsure which broke news of internal
policies, processes, and worst of all, culture
preventing people from accessing their
insurance. The insurance they thought was
available when they were facing difficult
times and in some cases mortality. Her ability
to investigate, support and connect with
whistle blowers in a respectful way is
paramount to the success of the change she
has achieved. Adele received a standing
ovation from the floor which was well
deserved and a testament to her passion and
journalistic talents.
Some of us heard from a panel about
expanding our reach, our relevance and
flexibility within our sector, in working with
areas such as prisons, aged care, health and
family violence. An interesting insight into the
work of financial counsellors in prisons
demonstrated the role we have as advocates.
We become the contact point in enabling
negotiations with utilities and financial
institutions to prevent further financial
impacts on release and we reduce the stress
on families. It provides hope and a fresh slate
to reduce one of the factors of recidivism.
4
The panel discussion led by Bernadette Pasco
highlighted the significant role financial
counselling has to play collaboratively across
the health sector including aged care and
disability. Financial stress can impact
individuals at any age or stage of their life.
We have a key role to play in identifying and
advocating in these areas for people facing
vulnerable times. A day has been dedicated
to furthering the discussion and learning for
financial counsellors on Monday 12
December covering aged care and disability
for those interested in attending.
The final area I would like to touch on was the
courageous insight Sayema provided us into
the nightmare she lived through which we
refer to as family violence. Sayema also
received a standing ovation after sharing her
personal story in the hopes that we can stand
united (our sector, industry and community)
to have the discussions, change policies,
processes and advocate for change. We do
not want to continue to victimise clients by
asking them to jump through hoops to apply
for hardship, debt waivers or assistance in
order to try and rebuild what they can of
their lives. Her story reiterates that it’s not
okay, whether in the workplace, the
community or at home, to condone the
behaviours of such perpetrators regardless of
values, culture or beliefs. Thank you, Sayema.
Overall, I see the theme of presentations and
discussions at this year’s conference focused
on the best outcomes for our clients and how
we can continue to work together to achieve
this for the future. Each year our conference
presents a great opportunity for financial
counsellors and industry to take some time
out to reflect, connect and return to their
offices with new found inspiration and
motivation.
We look forward to seeing you all there again
next year!
A word from the Executive Officer
Peter Gartlan
FCRC has a new website and logo!
After a long gestation, the new FCRC website
will be launched this month. This is the
culmination of nearly two years work and has
been designed with the user experience
framing the order and layout of information.
We expect that users will be able to navigate
and access information quickly and easily and
we welcome any feedback from you,
particularly in the early stages where minor
adjustments and hiccups and can be quickly
resolved.
Funding for the new website was provided by
Consumer Affairs Victoria and this would
have not been possible without their support.
Particular thanks to Melissa Ferguson from
CAV for her feedback throughout the project.
FCRC is also most appreciative of those
financial counsellors that piloted the website
and provided invaluable feedback on its
usability. FCRC staff, in particular Danielle
Archer and Bernadette Pasco, managed and
coordinated the project from start to finish.
Special thanks to John Murphy and Lennie
Beattie who conducted the usability testing
and Ivory Design, our website designers.
Regulator watch
Our corporate cop ASIC has come under fire
from a range of commentators and politicians
over recent times, often for good reason. This
time, however, credit needs to be given to
ASIC for its recent decision to investigate and
find that Australia’s largest payday lender,
Cash Convertors, refund consumers almost
$11m as well as pay a fine of over $1.3m.
Cash Convertors were found to have
systematically engaged in inappropriate
lending practices over a ‘sustained’ period of
time. This included internal benchmarking of
expenses which bore no relationship to the
actual expenses of borrowers and by default,
flout consumer credit requirements of a
prudent lender.
This week the Federal government
announced proposed changes following a
review of payday lending and consumer
leases. These include a ban on door-to-door
sales for consumer leases, a ban on
unsolicited offers of payday loans, a 10%
repayment cap, and a cap on the costs
charged from rent-to-buy consumer leases. It
is significant that the Federal Government
have accepted most of the recommendations
of the Independent Review Panel.
These reforms will directly assist our most
vulnerable clients and are a welcome
announcement. Particular recognition needs
to go to Consumer Action for its advocacy
and policy work.
And, as always, the financial counsellors that
provide the stories and cases that bring
exploitation and unfair practices to the
surface.
Special achievement
On behalf of FCRC, I would like to recognise
the achievement of one of our members,
Wendy McHugh, who recently qualified for
the 2017 World Championship ½ Ironman.
Wendy is one of only three competitors
representing Australia in her age group, and
is looking forward to competing at the event
in Europe. Our best wishes to Wendy for next
year’s competition.
5
Keynote speech from Adele Ferguson
Adele Ferguson is a multi-award winning senior business writer and columnist for leading Fairfax
newspapers, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian Financial Review. She is also the
author of best-selling unauthorised biography, Gina Rinehart: The Untold Story of the Richest Woman in
the World. With more than 20 years in journalism, Adele carries a reputation as one of Australia's most
respected and well-read commentators and investigative reporters. Her most recent exposé on the
Commonwealth Bank financial planning scandal led to a senate inquiry and a move by the bank to open
compensation for up to 400,000 customers.
I’d like to thank you for letting me talk about something
really close to my heart, and something that’s of
national significance: exposing and trying to stop the
scandals in the financial services sector. Many of you in
the audience do this every day by offering financial
counselling to people at their most vulnerable, and I
thank you for that. I try and help in a different way - in
my role as a journalist at Fairfax Media, and once or
twice a year joining forces with the ABC’s Four Corners.
ANZ is clawing back its money, but many investors are
struggling to repay their loans. In some cases,
customers are now paying for loans they didn’t even
know they had because their accountant or their
financial advisor had forged their signatures.
Most of these scandals I have reported on, and they
wouldn’t have come to light without the help of whistle
-blowers. We in the public owe them an immense debt
of gratitude. Despite the contribution they make, the
Over the past few years, my stories at Fairfax have laws are weak and most end up getting bullied, sidecovered serious failures and misconduct from our lined, terminated or smeared – sometimes all of the
biggest companies. Well-known brands, such as above.
Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, IOOF,
Macquarie and 7-Eleven, have all broken our trust and Jeff Morris, who was a financial planner at CommBank,
ruined the lives of thousands of people. Sadly, scandals came to me in March 2013, a week after I’d been
will continue until there is a serious change in the served with a subpoena from billionaire mining
culture of those companies; better laws and penalties, magnate Gina Rinehart to get my contacts. At the time,
the removal of conflicted structures and a stronger Rinehart was a major share-holder at Fairfax which
added to the stress. But Jeff came to me after he and
corporate regulator that uses the powers that it has.
two other whistle-blowers had gone to ASIC to expose
In the past few months, financial wrongdoings have forgery, fraud and a cover-up of management in the
well and truly hit the mainstream as the opposition, led bank’s financial planning arm. It would take ASIC 18
by Bill Shorten, has now committed to pushing for a months to officially launch an investigation.
Royal Commission. It has put the issue on the front
pages of the newspapers. On Friday, it was one vote What Jeff highlighted was an aggressive sales culture in
short of voting for a Royal Commission, which again the bank, which encouraged its planners to take risks
made national news. With the polls showing that the with other peoples’ money, while also turning a blind
majority of Australians are in favour of a Royal eye to practices that may have amounted to criminal
Commission, it’s becoming obvious that wrongdoing acts. Signatures were forged, documents manipulated,
doesn’t discriminate between the rich and the poor, and victims were given minimal compensation and
the sick, and employees of these firms. In other words, forced to sign confidentiality agreements.
it doesn’t matter what political persuasion, scandals The investigation also showed how “Dodgy” Don
don’t discriminate.
Nguyen, a star financial planner at the CBA, was being
rewarded inside the bank despite management
knowing he was putting clients’ money at risk. Don was
allowed to resign in 2008, and has so far received
hundreds of thousands of dollars from income
protection insurance paid by CommBank’s life
insurance arm. The irony here is Don was so easily able
to get income protection from CBA, yet so many others
struggle, as an investigation into CommInsure would
I’ve also written stories on Timbercorp, specifically later show.
looking at ANZ Bank’s role in bankrolling a business that
turned out to be nothing more than a Ponzi scheme.
I’ve written about many scandals in the past few years.
Most notably, CBA’s financial planning scandal, CBA’s
life insurance scandal, IOOF’s research division, and the
famous Penske file used by some Macquarie advisors to
cheat on exams. The common theme in all of these
scandals was putting profit before the best interests of
people. In some cases, it’s institutionalised theft.
6
Keynote speech from Adele Ferguson (cont.)
The CBA financial planning scandal story was published
in June 2013. It triggered a senate inquiry which
recommended a Royal Commission into CommBank on
the basis that the regulator couldn’t be trusted to do
the job properly. Commbank managed to stave off a
Royal Commission by agreeing to set up a
compensation scheme, and writing to hundreds of
thousands of customers offering to review the advice
they had been given.
At the weekend, I wrote about a 97-year-old woman
who was a victim of “Dodgy Don” and who is still
battling to get compensation out of the bank. What
made this case particularly egregious is ASIC had used it
to help ban Don Nguyen. He’d put Mrs K into high risk,
high fee-charging CBA products that she couldn’t access
for five to seven years. At that time, she was in her late
eighties.
vindictive and not a whistle-blower. He then came to
me with thousands of documents. The smear campaign
that followed was disgraceful. I received an email from
a senior representative at IOOF saying my so-called
whistle-blower was a blackmailer and had threatened
to kidnap the children of several staff members. The
email went on, “you’ve been sucked in by a person who
has mental problems, and in doing so you have grossly
abused the privileges given to journalists to report
fairly.”
These allegations turned out to be fanciful. But
discrediting the whistle-blower, or the victim, is a key
tactic. It’s an attempt to detract attention from the
misconduct. The IOOF whistle-blower is bitterly
disappointed with ASIC. During the 12 month
investigation, ASIC contacted him for a thirty five
minute chat. That was only after he sent an email to the
chairman, Greg Chapman, and CC’d me into it,
So why is it taking so long? Mrs K has been waiting in complaining nobody had contacted him or had asked
the compensation queue for 18 months. She received about the 59,000 documents he had given them or how
$400,000 of the $600,000 she had lost in an earlier to navigate them.
compensation scheme. But she is now trying to get
back the remaining $200,000 that was torched. She ASIC recently released its findings in a one-page press
isn’t asking for compensation for stress, frustration or release. It found wrongdoing and cultural issues, but
the opportunity cost of what she might have done with there were no fines, no penalties, no enforceable
the money over the past seven years. She just wants to undertakings. Instead, it agreed to appoint an
be put back to square-one. CBA says her case is a independent expert paid for by IOOF, with the terms of
complex one, and that’s why it’s taking so long. But reference written by IOOF. That was the best ASIC
really, when a bank has so many resources, surely it can could do. But the IOOF whistle-blower hasn’t wasted
do better than this. It makes me wonder how many his time. He’s shown the ASIC still has a long way to go
other Mrs Ks there might be that died before the if it is to ever be recognised as the tough cop on the
compensation scheme was even up and running.
beat.
So, taking on the financial services sector is fraught. The
banks play tough using their using legal and commercial
might. Journalists who write something negative are
deemed anti-business to their editors. Some of the
more unscrupulous bank executives and PR managers
use appalling, under-hand, back-channel techniques to
confuse and misdirect politicians and the media.
Another whistle-blower who I’ve dealt with is the
CommInsure whistle-blower, Dr Benjamin Koh, who
was the chief medical officer at CommBank’s life
insurance arm CommInsure. He used the bank’s
internal whistle-blower policy to air his concerns, but it
resulted in his termination. Dr Koh was concerned that
sick and dying people were being denied legitimate
An IOOF whistle-blower, who had been inspired by Jeff claims.
Morris, decided to take his concerns to the company
In one case, a customer, James Kessel, had a heartinstead of ASIC. It was a big mistake. The IOOF exposé
included allegations of insider-trading, cheating on attack. He was brought back with a defibrillator and
exams, staff giving financial advice without proper had stents put in. But his claim was denied on the
educational credentials, the company misrepresenting grounds it didn’t meet the bank’s medical definition of
performance figures for the purpose of getting a heart-attack. His case exposed the definition was a
customers to invest in IOOF funds, and staff producing decade out of date. Since then CommInsure has backfaulty research reports that had buy and sell dated its definitions on heart-attacks and rheumatoid
recommendations on stocks without any basis.
arthritis by two years. And it’s paid out James Kessel. In
fact, all the victims on the joint Fairfax-Four Corners
An employee had initially reported the scandal to the
program have been paid out. CBA has set up a panel to
company. He was bullied, sacked and told he was
review complex claims, ASIC is investigating
19
7
Keynote speech from Adele Ferguson (cont.)
CommInsure and the industry, and the banks have in financial services, whistle-blowers have done a great
service putting the debate about a Royal Commission
agreed to review their treatment of whistle-blowers.
firmly on the table.
But every week I receive emails from victims of life
insurance and financial misconduct. Sometimes it can The issues I see as a priority are protecting whistlebe overwhelming, and I wonder if things will ever get blowers, robust and effective remediation schemes, as
better. But we can all take comfort that right now a well as a compensation scheme of last resort for those
blowtorch is being aimed at the financial services people who fall through the cracks. And I also believe it
sector. And in an effort to avoid further scrutiny, such should be retrospective so that victims of Timbercorp,
as a Royal Commission or legislative change, the banks Great Southern and Storm don’t miss out. We need a
are attempting to clean up their act. The Australian
bold and pro-active regulator who isn’t afraid to take
Bankers Association has acknowledged there are
the hard decisions, and we need to rethink
problems, and recently released a suite of policies to
compensation and bonus structures, which strike at the
try and address them. The Coalition has agreed to beefup the resources of ASIC. It’s appointed a panel to heart of creating cultures that put profit before people.
review the external disputes resolution schemes, with a
report to be released in March. And it will hold an
annual event for bank bosses to come to Parliament to
get grilled.
The life insurers, meanwhile, are trying to develop a
code of conduct, again to stave off anything more
draconian such as a mandatory code. At the moment, it
would be generous to call the draft code “half-baked”.
But at least it’s a step in the right direction.
Importantly, politicians will be watching carefully to see
just what it means and who will be covered. Right now,
70% of insurance policies aren’t covered under this
code, and it isn’t ASIC approved, which are just a few of
its problems. But in the financial advice industry, a
panel will be set up to oversee conduct, improve
education – which currently only requires an advisor to
have completed a two-week course to satisfy RG146
requirements. They’re hardly well-trained to give you
advice on your life savings. There’s also been a national
register set up to track financial advisors. But again, this
has a long way to go if it’s to ever become effective.
They are steps in the right direction, but in my view,
there is still a lot more to be done. And by the time
many of these things come into place, they are often
watered down to the point where they aren’t very
effective. As retired Labour senator Mark Bishop said to
me last week, they’re piecemeal. Mark Bishop was the
chair of the senate inquiry into the performance of ASIC
which recommended a Royal Commission into CBA’s
financial planning arm. He said it was because ASIC was
too timid and too eager to believe what the big end of
town was telling it. He’s right.
8
Financial services is the lifeblood of the economy; we
need to be able to trust it. But that trust has been
abused. It’s why we need a Royal Commission to do a
holistic review of the sector, instead of the current
knee-jerk, patch-work responses which are welcome,
but they’re band-aids not a solution. This audience
knows better than most how many of the victims there
are every day. They’re hardworking Australians, who
are being treated poorly by the financial institutions
they’re supposed to trust. Consumer advocates can see
first-hand the challenges customers face navigating
financial products and the rip-offs. I’m told in Victoria,
financial counsellors see 50,000 Victorians every year in
financial difficulty, which is an extraordinary number.
It isn’t good enough to say “buyer beware.” Some of
these products are deliberately designed to bluff
consumers. Some are sold without properly explaining
the risks. When we go to the doctor and get handed a
prescription, it isn’t a case of ‘buyer beware,’ we expect
the doctor to give us the advice and the medicine we’ve
paid for. With so many gaps in the system, financial
counsellors have never been more important. When
people are at their lowest, they can turn to you. But
you can only do so much working in the system we
currently have. Last Thursday, Labour’s Bill Shorten
questioned the Prime Minister about a bank victim
named Michelle. Malcolm Turnbull asked how can a
Royal Commission help people such as Michelle.
“What’s that going to do?” he asked. “Will they pay her
back? No, she’ll get nothing. She’s got a debt and she
needs to find some financial compensation. She needs
to seek justice. What we have in place are ombudsman
services, we have legal services, we have a range of
avenues she can employ,” Malcolm Turnbull said.
When the Prime Minister spoke at Westpac’s 199th
birthday recently, he said the banks had a social licence
that they need to respect. He also said that whistle- But Turnbull’s defence of the banks is built on sand. A
blowers should be treated better. All the whistle- Royal Commission will help victims on a number of
blowers I’ve met absolutely come off second best. But levels. Firstly, it will give victims the chance to have
Keynote speech from Adele Ferguson (cont.)
their cases aired in an open and transparent forum. It
will look at the current bevvy of compensation schemes
on offer by banks including NAB, CBA and Macquarie
which lack transparency and are riddled with flaws. So
for people like Michelle, this has to be a good thing. It
will also give a proper forum to examine vertical
integration which will help the future Michelles. Most
importantly it will offer a set of recommendations
designed to reduce the number of victims. Until then,
little will change.
I’d just like to finish, reminding everyone about the
banking oath that the big banks can’t agree on. This is
what the oath is that they can’t agree on:
“Trust is the foundation of my profession. I will serve all
interests in good faith. I will compete with honour. I will
pursue my ends with ethical restraint. I will help create
a sustainable future. I will help create a more just
society. I will speak out against wrongdoing, and
support others who do the same. I will accept
responsibility for my actions in these and all other
matters. My word is my bond.”
It’s why we need a Royal Commission to address the
flaws and fix the system once and for all.
Keynote speaker Adele Ferguson from Fairfax Media, pictured above with John Berrill from
Berrill & Watson, at the 2016 Victorian Financial Counsellors Conference in September.
19
9
2016 Victorian Financial Counsellors Conference summary
Melanie Keenan
What a success!
Traditionally a regional Victoria conference, in response to your 2015 survey feedback, 2016 saw us
taking a leap of faith and moving the FCRC Conference to Melbourne CBD - creating greater accessibility
for our financial counsellors and conference partners, as well as greater opportunities for attracting
professional and engaging speakers, who are experts in their fields.
Seeking greater cross-sector engagement, collaboration and providing an opportunity for hardship teams
to attend - we were not disappointed, and we think you will agree that once again, we raised the
'conference bar'.
Hosted at the Pullman on the Park, overlooking
the iconic MCG and the beautiful Fitzroy
Gardens, the FCRC Conference 2016 was a great
success. The theme this year was 'Innovation
Starts With Us', and as Victoria’s premier
consumer advocacy event, the range of exciting
inclusions,
discussions
and
networking
opportunities not only kept delegates engaged
across the three days, but the interaction of
sectors with common interests and objectives
resulted in consultative innovative thinking and
problem-solving.
10
Fast facts:
 75% attendance - the highest number of Victorian
Financial Counsellors under one roof
 25 exhibitors representing utilities, banks,
ombudsman schemes, legal services, community
organisations and financial services
 410 cups of coffee were made by our barista on
the Tuesday, and 768 across the three days
“Speed dating is always a favourite with good discussions around the table,
stakeholder and FCs networking on important and relevant topics”
- Attendee testimonial
2016 Victorian Financial Counsellors Conference summary (cont.)
“The conference is so important and of particular benefit for isolated and rural FCs, offering
the opportunity to mix with stakeholders I have extensive dealings with over the phone”
- Attendee testimonial
Thank you!
Your support, participation and attendance, made it possible for us to put on an exceptional event
attracting the largest number of Victorian Financial Counsellors under one roof. In addition we had over 40
guest speakers; our MC, funny-man Rod Quantock, kept us entertained and on schedule. 25 conference
partners exhibited at their stands and engaged with the delegates in a variety of formal and informal
events.
The numerous networking opportunities meant further cohesion of the sector and the Gala Awards Dinner,
held in a beautiful setting along the banks of the Yarra, celebrated sector achievements.
We would also like to extend a warm thank you to our conference partners for investing in our conference,
not only financially but also the time and resources to set up your stands and your commitment to this
sector and working with the Victorian Financial Counsellors.
It is, in part, your commitment that allows FCRC to continue to:
 Improve the sector professionalism through an increased PD programme;
 Provide cross-sector coalface discussions with financial counsellors;
 Assist those in financial hardship to greater outcomes;
 Work collaboratively to improve industry understanding and service provision for our most vulnerable;
and
 Raise the bar each year at FCRC's Annual Conference.
19
11
Award recipients
Jan Pentland award: Mona Mrad
The Jan Pentland award is awarded to an individual member of FCRC who has demonstrated excellence in
financial counselling service to the wider community above and beyond their normal duties as a Financial
Counsellor. This year’s recipient was Mona Mrad, Team Leader at Kildonan Uniting Care. Accepting on her behalf
was Joanna Leece, Manager Social & Financial Inclusion at Kildonan (pictured below).
Jan Pentland’s partner, David Morawetz, was brought to tears while reading the nominations for Mona. He said:
“Mona has been a path-breaker in many areas. She has continued her self-education, she has
been described by two nominators as a quiet achiever (exactly what Jan was), and I love it that
she has Arabic speaking skills, especially in these days of turmoil over people seeking asylum.”
Virginia Noonan award: Donna Letchford
The Virginia Noonan award is awarded to a full member of
FCRC who has demonstrated excellence in service to our
profession or their clients over and above their normal
duties as a Financial Counsellor.
Many current Financial Counsellors owe much of their
knowledge in the field to the pioneering training run by
Virginia in the early 90's long before any tertiary courses
existed. Virginia is still actively involved in the sector as an
FCRC Supervisor, and this year she presented the award to
Donna Letchford (pictured left).
Donna has worked extensively to support victims of family
violence, piloting a new form of financial counselling at
Women’s Legal Services Victoria which assisted 300 women
to escape family violence and have $360,000 in debts
waived. Donna’s tireless efforts directly contributed to the
Royal Commission into Family Violence recommendations
to address financial abuse.
Donna has continued her advocacy work by offering an
outreach service to Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander
women through a partnership with the Koori Women’s Hub
run by the Aboriginal Family Violence Prevention and Legal
Service.
12
The Rising Star award: Bronwyn Seiter
The Rising Star award was introduced last year, and is for
an FC who has recently completed the Diploma of
Community Services (Financial Counselling) or who is an
Associate member currently completing the diploma. The
award recognizes such a member who has shown
excellence in service delivery.
Julie Barrow presented this year’s Rising Star award to
Bronwyn Seiter (pictured left). Already in her brief time as a
financial counsellor, Bronwyn has demonstrated outcomes
that exceeded expectations. Bronwyn has achieved client
outcomes that made a significant difference to their
wellbeing. This included dedicating 3 months to assisting a
couple to reclaim their repossessed home.
Bronwyn is employed at Primary Care Connect
(Shepparton). The CEO of Primary Care Connect Rebecca
Lorrains, financial counsellor Mark Sullivan, and other
management from PCC travelled to the dinner in support of
Bronwyn.
Posthumous Life award: Tony Naughton
The Life award is for an individual member of FCRC who has demonstrated excellence in financial counselling over
a long and distinguished career. This year’s recipient was former FCRC Chairperson, Tony Naughton, who sadly
passed away in August.
Tracey Grinter, Manager of Case Management Services at St Luke’s Anglicare, spoke of the influence Tony had on
herself , the FC team and the thousands of clients Tony assisted over a 16 year period.
FCRC was honoured that Tony’s wife Fiona (pictured below), their four children and partners attended the dinner.
In accepting the Life Membership, Fiona gave a personal insight into Tony, which resonated with a large number
of financial counsellors present.
19
13
FCA survey shows support for FOS and CIO merger
A recent survey of financial counsellors conducted by FCA has shown that 75% of respondents support a
merger of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and the Credit & Investments Ombudsman (CIO) into a
single financial complaints ombudsman service.
FCA conducted the survey to inform the joint consumer submission to the current review of external
dispute resolution schemes (the Ramsay review). The full report can be read here.
MoneyMinded facilitator training: expressions of interest
Thank you for your interest in MoneyMinded during the FCRC conference in Melbourne in September.
Unfortunately, due to an error we have been unable to respond to your registration of interest.
If you are interested in the program, please contact us directly at [email protected] or
[email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.
Marie Andrews
Financial Counsellor Liaison
ANZ Banking Group Ltd
14
Rank the Telco survey extended!
The Ranking Survey is back. Financial counsellors across the state have been invited to rate
telecommunications retailers on their practices towards customers in financial hardship.
Thanks to the previous responses of over 120 Financial Counsellors across Victoria – FCRC has produced
several reports: Rank the Bank 2015, and Rank the Energy Retailer 2014 and 2016. These have led to
important changes to internal processes for companies, and to some governance changes for these
sectors.
We are again looking forward to the response of financial counsellors: this time for the
telecommunications sector.
Survey responses are being collected until Saturday, 10 December. The full report is due out by March
next year.
We thank all financial counsellors for their valuable time, and thank ACCAN for their generous support of
this research project.
Please contact the project coordinator and research for further information:
Lisa Farrance
[email protected]
9663 2000
EWOV wants to visit you!
EWOV staff are currently visiting metropolitan, regional and
rural community groups to have brief and informal discussions
about the services they provide to energy and water
customers, to answer your questions energy and water
complaints, and to discuss how they can help.
EWOV can also arrange appointments with your clients who
have energy or water complaints.
To book a visit, please call or email:
Steph Booth
[email protected]
03 8672 4357
Belinda Sandilands
[email protected]
03 8672 4282
15
Sayema’s story
In a conference session that was both challenging and confronting, we heard harrowing details of
Sayema’s struggle with domestic violence. The horrific events were compounded when Sayema was
faced with the task of dealing with a raft of legal and financial problems. As a refugee from Afghanistan,
English is Sayema’s fourth language which made the task of dealing with our processes more challenging.
After seeking assistance from South East Community Links and FC Rachna Bowman, Sayema was able to
turn her situation around to one of empowerment and achievement. Sayema showed remarkable
strength in her determination to share her story at the conference, despite the distressing nature of her
experiences. She wanted to recognise the work of financial counsellors such as Rachna. It goes without
saying that the relationships that FCs develop with various hardship teams makes a difference to
reducing the barriers for clients.
For Rachna, Sayema was her first client after completing her qualification. Rachna described one of the
most significant challenges for her was keeping her emotions out of her work, and maintaining
professionalism. Sayema said of Rachna, “she is my biggest support… If I have any problems with
anything, I just call my FC.”
The Royal Commission into Family Violence has highlighted that economic abuse is difficult to identify
and support is not readily available. CAV recently announced an initiative in response to the Royal
Commission, which you can read about on page 18.
16
Telephone supervisors wanted
In response to demand, we would like to once again offer telephone professional supervision from 2017.
So that we can provide regular supervision, we are seeking supervisors who would be willing to volunteer
their time to conduct group supervision sessions over the phone.
Don’t forget that, under the National Standards for membership, supervisors are eligible to claim up to
four CPD points per year for provision of professional supervision to a financial counsellor.
Anyone interested should contact Sue Deland:
[email protected]
03 9705 6699
MoneyHelp to National Debt Helpline!
From 7 December 2016, MoneyHelp will be known as the “National Debt Helpline”.
The service will be supported by a new website, www.ndh.org.au. The national number remains the same
1800 007 007.
The tagline for the new brand is “Get back on track with free financial counselling”, and the explainer is
“We’re a not-for-profit service that helps people in Australia tackle their debt problems”. There is a
different service provider in each state that delivers the National Debt Helpline, and Consumer Action Law
Centre continues to deliver the National Debt Helpline in Victoria.
The new website includes much of the information that has existed on the MoneyHelp website, but is a
more user friendly site and includes helpful step-by-step guides. Some videos are being developed for the
site (featuring our staff Shungu Patsika and Janet Inglis), and you’ll even see Brian Kerr featured on the
website: http://www.ndh.org.au/Talk-to-a-financial-counsellor/Meet-our-financial-counsellors/BrianKerr.
We are printing some posters and DL flyers to circulate to community organisations to promote the
website. Please email [email protected] should you like some. As a transition measure, the
website www.moneyhelp.org.au will remain live for some months.
19
17
CAV's Family Violence Initiative
Melissa Ferguson
In 2015, the Victorian Government convened a Royal Commission into Family Violence (the Commission)
to address the prevalence of this issue within the community, to prevent future violence and to support
recovery.
In 2016, the Commission returned its report and made a number of recommendations that relate to
financial counselling. These include Recommendation 107, which focuses on training financial counsellors
in family violence and economic abuse; and Recommendation 17, which references financial counselling
as a Family Flexible Support Package service to assist victims in obtaining financial security.
The 2016-17 Victorian State Budget funding for family violence provided $1.75 million to:
1. recruit 10 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) family violence financial counsellors;
2. develop and deliver family violence training for financial counsellors; and
3. educate and establish protocols for industry to respond appropriately to family violence and
economic abuse.
CAV is managing the delivery of these three components on behalf of the Victorian Government, and is
required to report back to Department of Premier and Cabinet regarding delivery against the recommendations of the Royal Commission.
10 FTE family violence financial counsellors
In August 2016, CAV conducted a select Request for Service (RFS) offering funding for an additional 10
FTE for 9 months up to 30 June 2017. The RFS was offered to existing Financial Counselling Program
(FCP) service providers, and is known as the Family Violence Initiative (the initiative).
The 10 FTE were allocated statewide, apportioned according to police incidents of family violence and
Socio-Economic Indices for Areas (SEIFA) data. The delivery of services under the initiative commenced
on 1 October 2016.
Initially all financial counsellors providing services under the initiative are required to have or be in the
process of obtaining a minimum of L2 Common Risk Assessment Framework training to ensure they have
the ability to deal with clients experiencing family violence.
Develop and deliver family violence training for financial counsellors
In August 2016, the Commonwealth Department of Social Services funded Financial Counselling Australia
(FCA) to produce a training needs analysis on the requirements for family violence and economic abuse
training for financial counsellors including identifying gaps and presenting recommendations.
A working group with representation from FCRC, FCA and CAV oversaw the project. In addition FCA
conducted a national needs based survey to determine the level of family violence training required for
financial counsellors and financial capability workers nationally.
The findings from the final report and survey have provided the direction for the RFS to design, develop
and deliver the family violence and economic abuse training for financial counsellors. There are likely to
be two levels of training and a mixture of delivery modes including face to face and online modules.
CAV expects the RFS process will be circulated to a number of organisations with family violence, training
and financial counselling expertise at the end of November 2016.
18
CAV's Family Violence Initiative (cont.)
Educate and establish protocols for industry to address family violence
The Economic Abuse Co-ordination Group (the Group) has recently formed. The Group includes
representation from a number of organisations that are currently working to address family violence
practice and protocols within industry. They include representatives from legal centres, financial
counselling and family services organisations, and industry.
The purpose of the Group is to share information, co-ordinate advocacy activities, and collaborate on key
projects. The Group is currently providing feedback on the Australian Bankers Association latest draft of
“Industry Guideline: Promoting understanding about banks’ financial abuse and family violence policies.”
Tenancy
The Minister for Consumer Affairs Victoria is responsible for a number of recommendations from the
Commission that also indirectly impact on the work of financial counsellors. The function of Recommendation 117 is to promote awareness and use of s.233A of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (RTA) to
change tenancy agreements where tenants are affected by family violence.
The Tenants Union Victoria (TUV) is currently raising awareness of this section of the RTA through their
more general tenancy and family violence training to members of the Family Violence Regional Integration Co-ordination groups. The TUV has produced the Family Violence Protection Tenancy Kit which can
be found at http://www.tuv.org.au/family-violence-protection
CAV will continue to keep you informed through the DA on the progress of the projects under its
responsibility that address the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Family Violence.
19
Credit cards and SACC loans galore
Lisa Garlick
What’s happening?! The recent changes to the NCC and the implementation of the positive credit
reporting (CCR) were supposed to assist in reducing financial harm for consumers and lenders when
applying for credit. I believe it has gotten worse.
I know, I hear you say “don’t be naïve or gullible.” I’m not, but I had hoped these changes would
provide some consistency in the decision-making of the lenders when consumers applying for credit
from a Bank or a SACC lender can’t afford it. No excuses any more for not knowing a consumer’s
credit history.
The last 8 clients I’ve seen had between 5 – 11 credit products at once. They had a mix of credit
cards, SACC loans, personal loans, consolidation loans and mortgages. A lot of the credit products
were in arrears when new credit was sourced and approved. It was common for them to be
accessing new credit cards with 0% interest terms to pay off credit card debt and then re-using the
one they had paid off. Over commitment is a common theme and some are working (income not
enough) and some not (insufficient income). I am sure the same can be seen by other financial
counsellors across the state.
These are some examples based on the clients:
 2 mortgages + 9 credit cards = $600,000.00
 Mortgage + personal loan + overdraft + 4 credit cards = $800,000.00
 Secured car loan + personal loan + 6 credit cards + SACC loan= $92,000.00
 Mortgage + secured car loan + personal loan + 4 credit cards = $300,000.00
 4 SACC loans = $16,000.00 (one creditor has given 32 loans over 5 years)
 Secured car loan + personal loan + 4 credit cards = $45,000.00
 Car rental lease + 4 SACC loans = $11,000.00
 Consolidation loan + 4 SACC loans = $18,000.00
The hours I spend advocating and providing SOPs and updates to each creditor is huge. The
increasing rate of clients I see with these levels of multiple creditors indicates that there will be a
need for more financial counsellors not too far away. More creditors to deal with equals less clients
I can see.
The ABC has run an interesting article about credit cards you may have seen. I believe this is also
true about SACC loans.
It is my opinion that our sector could assist with a similar project that provides evidence to the
regulators that the current regulations require more work, and that more changes and protections
need to be implemented. I’m opening the conversation.
20
News in brief
ANZ releases its 2015-6 MoneyMinded Impact Report
With assistance from Berry Street and RMIT, ANZ have released their MoneyMinded Impact
Report that shows the value of financial education and its role in reducing the impacts of family
violence.
http://bit.ly/2fty0ng
Spring carnival: Statistics show Australians love to gamble
Recent statistics have shown that Australians lost $23 billion between 2014 and 2015, up 8 per cent from
the year before. The newcomer of gambling in Australia has been sports betting, where Australians lost
$814 million last year, an increase of 30 per cent. At that rate of growth it will overtake pokies as the
biggest form of gambling in Australia in a little over a decade.
http://buff.ly/2dM5c5C
$1 million landmark partnership to address energy hardship
AGL Energy Limited (AGL) and the NSW Government today announced a landmark partnership to invest
$1 million in a program to deliver solar energy and help reduce energy costs. The pilot program will see
around 250 households have solar panels, a digital meter and a Solar Command energy monitoring
system installed. Tenants will also receive a home energy visit by Kildonan UnitingCare to connect them
with other social support services, and provide information on how to maximise the benefits of their new
solar package.
http://bit.ly/2faUiKL
Cash Converters refunds
ASIC recently took action against Cash Converters for failing to make reasonable inquiries into people's
income and expenses before signing them up for payday loans between 1 July 2013 and 1 June 2016. As a
result of this action, Cash Converters is refunding $10.8 million to consumers who took out loans in this
period that were unsuitable for them.
The following link from ASIC explains whether your client may be entitled to a refund, and how they can
claim it.
https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/news/cash-converters-refunds
19
21
Bank tribunal proposal
Update from FCA—Fiona Guthrie
You’ve probably heard in the media recently that the Government is talking about establishing a “bank
tribunal”. This is part of the political response to try and head off calls by the Opposition for a Royal
Commission. The other response of course was to call the bank CEOs before a Parliamentary committee.
There is a lot of pressure on both the banks and the Government to be seen to be “doing something”.
Consumer group response to the “bank tribunal” idea
Consumer groups are very worried about this possibility. No-one has exactly explained how a Tribunal
would work, nor exactly what problem it is trying to solve (other than the political one). At its worst, a
Tribunal could replace all of the EDR schemes (FOS, CIO). It could also mean that we’d end up with
consumers having to go through a legal process, rather than a dispute resolution process. And a Tribunal
could allow financial services providers to appeal decisions, something which would be outside the
resources of people. We just don’t know what the Government has in mind … and probably they don’t
know either. If you look at the statements from the Prime Minister, from the Assistant Treasurer and
from the members of the Committee looking into the banks, their thinking is all over the place.
What we’ve done
FCA was part of an open letter to the Prime Minister raising these concerns. The groups involved were
Consumer Action Law Centre (who coordinated and wrote the letter), Financial Rights Legal Centre, Care,
Caxton Legal Centre, CCLS WA, CCLC SA and FCA.
What else is happening?
There is quite a lot of stuff happening in the financial services sector at the moment. One of the most
important is an independent review of the dispute resolution framework - FOS, CIO and the
Superannuation Complaints Tribunal. This is chaired by Professor Ian Ramsay at Melbourne University so
you will hear this referred to as the Ramsay Review. We’d like to see the Government await the
outcome of their own review before making a decision about a new tribunal! One of the things we argue
is for a merger between FOS and CIO (and if possible, the SCT).
Another thing on the go is the review of the banking code of practice. This was also a joint consumer
submission.
And then there is the ABA six point plan - the banks are all appointing customer advocates, there is a
review of remuneration structures, strengthened whistleblower protections to name a few.
It is also possible that consumer organisations will be asked to appear before the Parliamentary
Committee looking into the banks.
What does this all mean?
There are some real risks of the dispute resolution framework going backwards and damage to EDR. The
situation is really fluid and highly political.
Related article:
Small lenders reject bank tribunal proposal
Click here to read the article from the Australian Financial Review.
22
DemandARefund.com – Help us get to $500,000 by the end of 2016!
Jump onto Consumer Action Law Centre's website DemandARefund.com and demand your clients'
money back for junk insurance and rubbish warranties.
Since the launch of the website in March 2016, Australians have demanded over $450,000.
DemandARefund.com has been featured by the Herald Sun, The Age, the TODAY Show, Today Tonight,
the ABC and more. The website was noted by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in
their 'A market that is failing consumers: The sale of add-on insurance through car dealers' report.
Anglicare financial counsellor Christine Jones used DemandARefund.com to demand a refund for two add
-on insurance policies for her client. Christine said the process was good and the website generated a
'pretty smart letter at the end.’ She was pleasantly surprised. And, the result? $4,465.62 off her client's
loan! Christine is currently negotiating with the other insurer and hoping for a good outcome. Christine
said her client was stunned when she found out about the payment. Read Christine’s story below.
Christine Jones’ DemandARefund.com testimonial
Client Background:
Jess is 32 years of age, the mother of a toddler and presented with two personal loans that she had been
managing well when she was working in a small rural supermarket, until she notified her employer that
she was pregnant. He decided that she could not carry out her duties which involved lifting boxes in the
liquor department so ceased her employment and issued a separation certificate stating the reason for
termination as ‘other – pregnant and unable to fulfil duties’.
Jess had a baby girl and all was well for a few months until she noticed a lump in her breast and upon
examination was diagnosed with cancer and carrying the BRAC1 gene. A double mastectomy was
performed. Jess went through chemo and radiation therapy and is now embarking on breast
reconstruction surgeries.
Without work now for quite some time, Jess was struggling to keep up with loan repayments.
Insurance Claims:
Jess had purchased consumer insurance products on both loans and attempted to claim when the breast
cancer was diagnosed. Both claims were rejected on the basis that she was not working at the time of
diagnosis. Neither insurer investigated the potential ‘involuntary employment’ clause in their policies.
Demand a Refund:
Realising that the payout figure of one of the loans might well be less than the total cost of the premium
(Premium + Interest) CALC advised we try DemandARefund.com. The online process was easy to navigate
and with Jess sitting beside me, we were able to lodge the complaint in less than 30 minutes. The letter
produced at the end of the online form was really useful as it summed up the complaint very well.
Responses from the insurers were immediate! One insurer conducted a review and agreed to pay the
disability claim, without hesitation, and provided Jess obtains medical certificates, will honour the loan
repayments. So that was one down, one to go. The other insurer is being a little more dogmatic but we’re
not done with them yet. I think we will at least get a refund, if not we will shame them into honouring
the ‘involuntary unemployment’ clause.
Note: Jess has been made aware that her employer did not behave lawfully, however her choice was to
remain friendly towards him as she is hopeful of one day returning to her job.
19
23
New video helps consumers to find a better energy offer
CUAC have a released a step-by-step video guide that shows consumers how easily they can find a cheaper
energy plan using the Victorian Energy Compare website.
The video, which is available here, is just one of several resources on the EnergyInfoHub website which aims
to educate and empower Victorian energy and water consumers.
24
19
25
CALC 2015/16 Impact Report Summary
26
La Trobe Student Union joins the National Financial Literacy Strategy
The National Financial Literacy Strategy 2014-17 sets out a national direction for financial literacy in
Australia. It provides a practical framework to guide the actions of stakeholders from the Government,
business, community and education sectors with an interest in improving the financial literacy of
Australians.
Financial literacy and exclusion of our more vulnerable clients have always been concerning to financial
counsellors. Both Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) and ASIC (the Australian Securities and
Investments Commission) are strategically involved in this area and provide an action plan for
stakeholders to this end. This action plan involves educating the next generation, generating research,
providing information and resources, and strengthening the co-ordination of effective partnerships.
Please read more: www.financialliteracy.gov.au/supporters/formal-education
The La Trobe University Student Union (LTSU) has responded to significant need in their student
community by establishing a Financial Counselling practice which is well placed in the formal education
sector, serving the needs of students from diverse and marginalised backgrounds to reduce their financial
difficulty, complete their education, and gain employment.
Robyn Angus, LTSU Financial Counsellor, welcomes the new LTSU-National Financial Literacy Strategy
partnership, stating that “joining the (strategy) will strengthen the LTSU’s ability to implement
educational programs to improve our students’ financial capabilities”.
19
27
The Devil’s Advocate is a bi-monthly newsletter that is published for the benefit of FCRC members,
associates and other stakeholders. The Devil’s Advocate’s primary function is to distribute information
to FCRC membership and beyond.
The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of FCRC or its membership. Furthermore, articles
relating to products and/or services should not be seen as a recommendation
or endorsement of such products by FCRC, and are provided for information only.
Whilst FCRC takes every reasonable precaution to ensure the accuracy of the information published
in the Devil’s Advocate, you should confirm the accuracy of the information on which you may seek to rely.
FCRC accepts no responsibility for any loss, damage, or consequence arising either directly or indirectly from the
information contained herein.