Wyndham City aims to make financial counsellors a ‘go to’ option for residents before times get too tough and it’s a struggle to pay the rent or the mortgage.
This follows a recent report by the Council to Homeless Persons that shows Wyndham is the second highest local government area in the state where employed people are seeking help due to homelessness.
Wyndham City Mayor, Councillor Jennie Barrera said the report outlined that ‘Victoria has the lowest level of public and community housing per capita of any jurisdiction in Australia’, focussing on the rental market and the need for more government supported housing.
“Although housing is a state and federal matter, there a several contributors to financial difficulty that would put someone at risk of homelessness,” she said. “We’re urging residents to seek help early if they are finding it hard to pay the bills.”
“We find anecdotally that residents are not aware of the assistance free financial counsellors can offer and that they’d offer friendly and non-judgmental support.”
Financial counsellors can help with:
· accessing grants and concessions to pay bills and debts
· advocating to banks, electricity, gas, water and insurance companies for hardship support
· negotiating fair and reasonable payment plans that a person can afford
· help developing budgets
“Wyndham City belongs to the H3 Alliance, which is an alliance of health, housing and homelessness organisations in Wyndham who work together to deliver and improve housing services and options in Wyndham.”
“We encourage residents to share information about financial counsellors with friends and family, a list of free financial counsellors is on our website.”
