FINDING ways to help farmers and small business owners combat the rising cost of living was on the agenda for Rural Financial Counselling Service counsellors at their recent conference.
The Social Connection Training conference, held in Melbourne, was attended by more than 50 financial and wellbeing counsellors from RFCS Victoria West, RFSC Gippsland, RFCS Victoria North East and Rural Business Tasmania, and representatives from Agriculture Victoria.
A range of topics were covered, including windfall tax, succession planning, negotiation skills, insurance claims and advanced techniques for wellbeing counsellors in dealing with clients.
RFCS Victoria West executive officer David Stafford, who hosted the conference, said the past couple of years highlighted the importance of social connection and quality service delivery.
“Our clients rely on us to provide the most up-to-date and relevant services in an ever-changing environment,” Mr Stafford said.
“Conferences like this provide opportunities for us to build on our experience and knowledge base, and to feed a passion that is unique to not-for-profit organisations offering free service and support like ours.”
The conference was based around how each not-for-profit service could better support their communities as the effects of fire, flood, drought, inflation and COVID continued to have a significant impact.
“In the same week as the lights went out at the Gabba during an AFL match, many Victorian primary producers and rural small businesses are struggling to keep their own lights on,” Mr Stafford said.
“A succession of extreme weather events, COVID repercussions, fuel price hikes and interest rate rises has created financial and mental health concerns across the state, and it is our job to help consider and present options to ease the pain for our clients.”
Farmers and rural small business owners experiencing hardship can find out more information by visiting rfcsvictoriawest.com.au
