Financial Counselling Victoria (FCVic) is the peak body and professional association for financial counsellors in Victoria. They offer a free, independent, confidential service that supports people experiencing financial hardship.
Recognising the role public libraries play in being an important refuge and source of information for people in the community, FCVic has developed a suite of resources for public library professionals so that they feel comfortable addressing enquiries relating to patrons experiencing financial difficulties.
The resources are available on the FCVic Library Professionals Resources Page for libraries to download and use. The resources include the following.
Flexible Programs For Libraries
The programs and activities outlined here are entirely flexible. Library staff can select and combine the options provided to suit the needs of library users and the local community, and to complement and integrate with other programs, current events or topics of interest.
The content fits into two categories: Julie and the Debt Monster and Older and Wiser – Standing Strong.
Julie and the Debt Monster evolved from a collaboration with Little Dreamers, an organisation supporting young carers aged 4 to 25 (and a great organisation for libraries to know about for referral purposes). The content has been designed to promote financial literacy and gently introduce concepts of debt and borrowing to audiences aged 14-25. The resources and activities were also developed with input from staff at the Kathleen Syme Library to align with public libraries’ delivery methods.
Older and Wiser – Standing Strong is a project arising from partnerships with Southern Migrant and Refugee Centre and Alfred Health Carer Services, and centres on elder abuse prevention. The content was created to empower and support older community members who may be looking for information and resources about specific money issues.
Both categories contain material that can be useful and beneficial for a wide range of audiences and purposes, beyond their original context. FCVic recommends you select material that suits your patrons’ individual needs (scroll down this page for more).
Resources to Share
These resources are suitable for sharing with library users, including fact sheets, referral information, reading lists, etc. You may choose to use these resources in multiple ways – by library staff in consultation with a community member or group, for display, or simply to hand to a community member in response to an inquiry (scroll down this page for details).
Money Check Up for Library Users: Self-guided training for library professionals
There are also resources for self-guided learning, including:
- a checklist and useful phrases to help identify whether your library users may be experiencing money problems
- how to use web resources to make the best match between your library users and the available local financial counselling services,
- A simple flyer explaining financial counselling to library users, including space for you to enter contact details for their preferred local service
Money Explorer for Young People
Little Dreamers have also developed a gamefied Money Explorer, providing self-guided learning on financial literacy for young people (or anyone for that matter). Money Explorer would make a great screen saver/default on the public computers in your library after school or during teen takeovers, for example.
Further resources for young carers are available on the Dreamers Hub.
Let’s Talk Money workshops for migrant and refugee women
Also worth knowing about are the Let’s Talk Money workshops run by Women’s Health in the North (WHIN) in a rangeof community languages. These fee for service workshops can be delivered in your library and cover topics such as
- Budgeting and saving
- Bnakging
- Financial rights and responsibilities
- Credits, loans and debt management
- Tenancy rights and responsibilities
- Tax and superannuation
- Centrelink
For information, contact Shazia at WHIN [email protected]