AS our farming communities work through another dry season, support agencies, alongside local government, have been working collaboratively to ensure the health and wellbeing of our rural communities. Part of this process is to inform those in need of all available resources. Connecting Communities aims to build on the strong resources already in our region and promote the resilience that has seen many people through difficult times in the past.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A rural financial counsellor walks into a farmer’s home, sits down at the kitchen table, and essentially addresses their financial pain.
A counsellor will not offer a Bandaid solution. Instead, they will spend countless hours, throughout many meetings, helping to find a light at the end of the tunnel.
The role of a rural financial counsellor is a privileged position. Their sole aim is to help families assess and understand their financial position, while empowering them to make their own decisions about how to manage change in an uncertain future.
A counsellor will provide financial information, business options and guidance to improve operations.
They will offer support and set realistic goals, identify risks and establish referrals to other sources of industry, professional and government assistance. They can help prepare budgets and loan or refinance applications, negotiate with creditors and financial institutions, and help benchmark a farm’s financial performance.
It is not the counsellor’s role to criticise the past or set the future in stone.
Wimmera South West Rural Financial Counselling Service’s Patrick White said counsellors helped to identify options and develop action plans.
“Our core role is to help manage a client’s cash flow,” he said.
“We want our clients to see, from a cash point of view, where they are at and where they need to be.”
Patrick is one of three counsellors available to farm families and small rural businesses across the Wimmera.
The free service is confidential and independent of financial institutions, welfare organisations and government. The service uses the Farm Household Allowance and drought concessional loans to help farm families.
A rural financial counsellor can meet on your property, in the office or at an agreed, convenient location.
To speak with a rural financial counsellor, call 1300 735 578 or email admin@wswrcs.com.au.
- Drought information line: call 136 186