Fair Trading Minister Virginia Judge today announced the Keneally Government will preserve $10 million in trust to provide ongoing free financial counselling for struggling families.

Speaking at the NSW Financial Counselling Association annual conference at Bondi this morning, Ms Judge said the NSW Government would preserve the money in the state’s Financial Counselling Trust Fund, allowing thousands of NSW families to access free counselling services.

“The Keneally Government is delivering on its promise to support families who are facing financial crisis,” she said.

“Over the past two years, the NSW Government has increased annual funding for financial counselling from $2.3 million to $5.5 million until 30 June 2012.

“By preserving $10 million in the trust fund, we are providing a further guarantee this program will continue beyond that date.”

Last year, more than 43,000 people sought advice from financial counsellors across NSW – an increase of 10.3 per cent from 2008.

“We have seen a huge increase in demand for financial counselling services and, unfortunately, there are no signs of this slowing down,” Ms Judge said.

“The NSW Government recognises that financial stress has a huge impact on family relationships and can lead to major health problems.

“We have thrown our support behind financial counselling to ensure families receive support and advice they need.”

“It does not matter what suburb or town you live in, financial counselling plays a vital role in helping people manage short-term difficulties and develop strategies to avoid financial traps in the future.”

The coordinator of The Salvation Army Moneycare, Tony Devlin welcomed the Keneally Government’s ongoing support.

“The demands on services and financial counsellors have never been greater,” he said.

“Clients are coming with more complex cases, bigger debts and are often very stressed and anxious about their situation.

“Financial counselling in NSW has had a long and valuable partnership with the NSW Government and any move to preserve the certainty of funding is very welcome.”

The NSW Government has also increased funding for the No Interest Loans Scheme NILS® from $840,000 to $1.78 million annually and funded a NSW NILS® telephone hotline at a cost of $76,875 annually. The funding for the hotline has been extended to June 2011.

NILS® provides no interest loans of up to $1200 to help those in need purchase essential household goods, medical items and services.

More information and a full list of financial support services are at this website. For information on NILS visit www.nilsnsw.org.au

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