The Financial Counselling Australia conference is one of the highlights for the Financial Rights team. It gives us a few precious days to network, talk shop, hear what’s happening in other services, talk with our peers about how they’re tackling systemic issues, and gives us the space to think differently about our ways of working.
The theme this year was Momentum. A few highlights included:
- Recognition from Minister Tanya Plibersek about the importance of appropriate funding for financial counselling services
- Reflections from outgoing ASIC Chair Joe Longo about the challenges the regulator faces when their resources simply can’t stretch to all the wrong doing going on in the marketplace
- A panel session on scams, outlining the urgency on which the sector must come together to make sure forthcoming safeguards are adequate
- An amusing pantomime on the concept of productivity
- And a great debate on whether financial counselling can ever be done by AI (spoiler: not as well as financial counsellors do it!)
Financial Rights provided training for the sector on some of our areas of particular expertise, including Centrepay reforms, making credit reports work for clients, and First Nations banking equity.
We were incredibly proud when Mob Strong Debt Help’s Bettina Cooper was awarded the Jan Pentland Prize for 2026. The prize is awarded annually for outstanding achievement in financial counselling and/or consumer advocacy, and achievement in undertaking law reform, campaign work, community development, and/or community education.
Bettina has so many achievements that meet the criteria: her work leading the Save Sorry Business coalition, to help victims of the ACBF/Youpla; her leadership in the Centrepay reform process; her leadership in seeking banking equity for First Nations people; and her leadership setting Mob Strong Debt Help on the pathway toward independence.
We were pleased to hear so many of Bettina’s peers publicly recognising Bettina’s incredible advocacy across the duration of the conference. Congratulations Bettina, from the whole team at Financial Rights.
