11 May 2023
Australia’s financial counselling services will receive a $7.75 million boost following a donation from a group of organisations from across the banking, finance, insurance, energy, telecommunications and online gambling sectors.
The donation will help the Financial Counselling Foundation deliver a series of important initiatives to support victims of family violence, those at risk of homelessness and First Nations communities.
“They are making a real, positive impact on the lives of some of society’s most vulnerable people.”
ABA CEO, Anna Bligh
Australian Banking Association Chief Executive Officer Anna Bligh, speaking on behalf of the contributors, said the funding will provide significant assistance.
“The important work carried out by the Financial Counselling Foundation, and the groups they have determined to receive these grants, is to be highly commended,” Ms Bligh said.
“They are making a real, positive impact on the lives of some of society’s most vulnerable people.”
Financial Counselling Foundation Chairperson, George Brouwer, welcomed the donation and said it will help support a series of important initiatives.
“The $7.75 million will enable the Foundation to provide additional support to existing grants that are expiring and to implement new projects identified as worthy through our priority assessment and grants-based process,” Mr Brouwer said.
“Our current funding priorities include projects to support victims of family violence, tenants at risk of homelessness, First Nations communities and people in prison.”
A portion of the donation will be used to support the extension of 10 family violence financial counsellors for a further two years. These positions, overseen by the Family Violence Financial Counselling Agency, are located nationally in predominantly community legal centres to support women who have experienced family violence.
The donation will also allow the Foundation to look at new initiatives. Mr Brouwer said.
“As a result of the contribution, the Financial Counselling Foundation can consider the possibility of a national initiative, in response to research completed by Thriving Communities Partnership, to fund financial counsellors to work within the prison environment and with different cohorts,” he said.
Organisations that are contributing to the donation:
AGL
Alinta Energy
Allianz Australia Insurance Limited
Aussie Broadband Limited
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited
Bank of Queensland
Betfair
bet365
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Group
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Credit Corp Group Limited
EnergyAustralia
Entain
IAG
Latitude Financial
Liberty Financial
Macquarie Bank Limited
MyState Bank Limited
National Australia Bank
Optus
Origin Energy
Pepper Money
Pointsbet
QBE
Red Energy
Simply Energy
Sportsbet
Suncorp Group
Telstra Limited
The Hollard Insurance Company
Toyota Finance
TPG Telecom Limited
Unibet
Westpac Banking Corporation
Latest news
E&OERadio InterviewABC Illawarra22 July 2026. Topics: Buying and selling of bank accounts; Efforts to combat money laundering; Scam prevention efforts by banks Melinda James: Well, this is a big and growing problem. There were 13,000 bank accounts shut down by the four major Australian banks in the financial year 2023–24. So, how big a problem… Read more »
Thank you for the opportunity to appear alongside our friends and colleagues at COBA today. The Cash Distribution Framework Bills are a critical step to provide security to the long-term availability of cash in Australia. Our written submission sets out our position in detail. Today I will focus on a few key points. The banking industry is committed to ensuring that Australians who… Read more »
E&OERadio Interview2SM Sydney21 July 2026. Topics: Buying and selling of bank accounts; Efforts to combat money laundering Tim Webster: Look, we spoke to Peter Price from Crime Stoppers, the boss at Crime Stoppers, about this banking mules. I mean, this ridiculous situation where the young ones are coerced into being, you know, money mules and… Read more »