The FPA is in the process of rolling out its pro-bono advice program developed last year in rural Victoria on a national basis.
“We’d like to roll it out on a national basis in the same way we rolled it out in Mildura, with a partner in place so that we can actually work with someone who actually needs the advice,” FPA chief executive Jo-Anne Bloch said.
Last year, the FPA teamed up with the Rural Financial Counseling Service in Mildura to provide pro-bono financial advice to drought-stricken farmers in the region.
“We’ve asked our members to register to provide pro-bono advice. We are also now scouting around for projects that we can use that would value pro-bono advice and we’ll put the two together,” Bloch said.
When establishing the scheme last year certain guidelines were put in place dictating how the advice would be given and these are the same boundaries the FPA would like to apply this time around.
“The guidelines established how it would all work, the standards, the requirements, the commitments, and so on. It also makes it easier for the licensees to be able to allow their financial planners to give the advice,” Bloch said.
Each local chapter of the FPA will be responsible for establishing the relationship that will provide the channel for the advice available. The initiative is already underway in another state.
“We’ve launched something in South Australia with NAB Financial Planning to give pro-bono advice to Anglicare,” Bloch said.
In regard to timing, the FPA has made a conscious decision not to set any expectations on how quickly each chapter has to have the program in place.
