Financial Wellbeing and Capability Activity
The Australian Government, in partnership with community organisations, provides support to eligible individuals and families experiencing financial crises and help build financial wellbeing, financial capability, and resilience for vulnerable people and those most at risk of financial and social inclusion and disadvantage. People can acquire budgeting and financial literacy skills to help navigate through debt and learn strategies to better manage their money and become financially independent through the Financial Wellbeing and Capability Activity.
Services include crisis support, broad financial capability building services, financial counselling and access to microfinance and microenterprise products. Services are free, voluntary and confidential and are delivered by community organisations.
Services provided under the Financial Wellbeing and Capability Activity
Services include:
- Financial Crisis and Material Aid; and
- Financial Counselling, Capability and Resilience
Financial Crisis and Material Aid
Financial Crisis and Material Aid includes the provision of Emergency Relief and Food Relief.
- Emergency Relief – provides immediate financial and/or material support to people in financial crisis.
- Food Relief – increases emergency relief organisations’ access to a cost-effective supply of food items which is provided to people in need across Australia.
Support Available Now
If you need food parcels, clothing, household items, vouchers, or assistance with part-payment of utility account/s, budgeting, and/or referrals to other services that help to address financial crisis then you can find your nearest Emergency Relief service provider which may be able to assist. Access to Emergency Relief is free and there are no citizenship or residency requirements to access this support.
Financial Counselling, Capability and Resilience
Financial Counselling, Capability and Resilience supports include financial counselling, financial literacy education, and access to financial services including microfinance products such as low or no interest loans.
- Commonwealth Financial Counselling and Financial Capability services help eligible people to address their financial problems, make informed choices and build longer-term capability to budget and manage their money. Specialist services include:
- Financial Resilience services provides financially vulnerable people with access to safe and affordable financial services and products (including no interest loans, matched savings and microenterprise products) to help low income earners build self-reliance and build their capability to budget and manage their money.
Support Available Now
If you need assistance with debt management, a financial counsellor can help you work through your financial issues, advocate on your behalf, provide options on any debts you may have or link you to other community services that may be able to help.
Talk with a financial counsellor or find a financial counsellor near you by phoning the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007* or visit ndh.org.au.
*Calls from public phones/mobile phones may be timed and charged at a higher rate.
You can also find a financial counselling service through ASIC's Money Smart Financial Counselling page.
Review of the coordination and funding of financial counselling services across Australia
The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry (Royal Commission) provided its final report to the Governor-General on 1 February 2019. The Treasurer, the Hon Josh Frydenberg MP released the Australian Government’s response to the Royal Commission on 4 February 2019.
The Government is taking action on all 76 recommendations outlined in the Royal Commission’s Final Report. In addition, the Government has committed to additional actions to improve the financial outcomes of Australians. This included undertaking an immediate review of the coordination and funding of financial counselling services that disadvantaged Australians rely on.
On 3 October 2019, Senator the Hon Anne Ruston, Minister for Families and Social Services, released The Countervailing Power: Review of the Coordination and Funding for Financial Counselling Services across Australia. The Government released its response to the review on 25 November 2020.
More information is available at Review of the coordination and funding of financial counselling services across Australia.
Review of Emergency and Food Relief Services
An independent review of Commonwealth Emergency Relief and Food Relief programs was completed in 2022. It included perspectives of funded providers and people accessing services.
The review considered how effectively the current system of Emergency Relief and Food Relief services and funding addressed the needs of clients, particularly in the context of challenges from the coronavirus pandemic and the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires.
The review focused on the interactions between Commonwealth-funded Emergency Relief and Food Relief providers, the on-the-ground delivery of services, and referral arrangements, including the role of referral pathways for clients with multiple needs, to access holistic supports they need to build their long-term financial resilience and wellbeing.
More information is available at Emergency Relief in Australia: A review of the Commonwealth Funded Emergency Relief program.
Indigenous Engagement and Partnerships
All Australian governments are working with First Nations people, their communities, organisations and businesses to implement the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (National Agreement).
The National Agreement is underpinned by the belief that when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a genuine say in the design and delivery of policies, programs and services that affect them, better life outcomes are achieved.
This is an unprecedented shift in the way governments have previously worked to close the gap and is built around four Priority Reforms that are directly informed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
- Formal partnerships and shared decision-making
- Building the community controlled sector
- Transforming government organisations and;
- Shared access to data and information at a regional level.
These reforms are central to the National Agreement and the department encourages providers to work towards embedding the Priority Reforms into the way services are designed and delivered to demonstrate an active role in contributing to the Closing the Gap targets. This includes considering how to engage in genuine partnerships with Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and local First Nations communities. Service providers are required to ensure their services are culturally safe and responsive to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The Department of Social Services’ contribution to this includes:
- leading three socio-economic targets under the Closing the Gap policy
- Outcome 9a – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people secure appropriate, affordable housing
- Outcome 12 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are not
- over-represented in the child protection system
- Outcome 13 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and households are safe
- working with Commonwealth agencies to include targeted actions in their response to Closing the Gap, to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability, and
- building capacity in Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) funded by the department.
The department is committed to supporting Indigenous-led organisations delivering services, and recognises the role these organisations play in improving financial wellbeing outcomes for First Nations Australians.
The department is working to embed the Closing the Gap Priority Reforms into the design and delivery of FWC programs, and will consider these reforms in the context of future grant rounds.
Many organisations funded under the FWC Activity have Reconciliation Action Plans in place. The department encourages organisations funded under the FWC Activity to provide a copy of their Reconciliation Action Plan (or equivalent) to their Funding Arrangement Manager.
These plans demonstrate organisations' commitment to Indigenous client service delivery and provide evidence to support the Closing the Gap commitments.
No Interest Loans Scheme (NILS)
Beware of unauthorised websites and social media accounts
The Department of Social Services are aware of unauthorised websites and social media accounts that contain false information about the national No Interest Loans Scheme (NILS) in an attempt to gain your private information, including bank or government agency (my.gov, Medicare or Centrelink) details.
NILS is delivered in collaboration with Good Shepherd and the National Australia Bank. NILS provides access to fair and safe loans up to $5,000, with no interest, fees, or charges. Loans may be accessed face to face through approved NILS community providers, which are community organisations like The Salvation Army or similar local services or via the Good Shepherd contact centre (13 64 57).
The unauthorised websites may appear as search results through web browsers, and some are posing as Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (GSANZ) or NILS community providers.
Some of these websites have hyperlinked information about loans of up to $20,000 through the NILS program. The websites provide false information on NILS loan limits and repayments, and in some cases ask individuals to provide their myGov and/or bank account sign in and password details as part of the ‘loan application’ process.
You should not click on links from these websites or provide any personal or financial information on any social media platforms.
Information about NILS should only be obtained from trusted sources such as this website and:
- The Good Shepherd website
- No Interest Loans (NILS) – Good Shepherd
- No Interest Loans (NILS) for Vehicles – Good Shepherd
- Good Shepherd community service providers (found at Find a NILS Provider – Good Shepherd) which includes their phone number so you can verify it is a trusted source.
If you believe a website or social media message could be a scam, do not provide any personal or financial information.
NILS staff will never:
- Contact you via social media. If you have contact Good Shepherd through the chat function they will only provide general information about how to apply for a NILS loan
- Ask you for sensitive financial information such as online banking passwords or codes
- Ask for your sign in to online banking
- Ask for your myGov sign in and password details
- Ask for you to download software
- Ask for you to transfer money
- Ask you to set up a bank account with a specific provider to have money transferred.
If you think you have been scammed, you should consider the following actions
- Block all contact from the scammer
- Call your bank and/or financial institution as soon as possible to let them know about the scam
- Create new passwords
- Take steps to secure your personal identity documents
- Watch for suspicious contact such as emails, phone calls, texts, or messages through social media and do not click on any links sent to you
- Monitor your bank account for unauthorised transactions
- Report to Scamwatch
- If the scam is an advertisement, report it to the social media platform using their ad settings button
- Report the scam to GSANZ by sending screenshots and details to: communications@goodshep.org.au and report it to the Department of Social Services at fraud@dss.gov.au
- Report it to the police.
For further advice on scams is available from the National Anti-Scam Centre: Scamwatch.
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