Partnership releases financial wellbeing guide

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist, Financial Newswire

20 June 2023

Beyond Blue and Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) have jointly launched the ‘Services Guide for Financial and Mental Wellbeing’ to aid the financial and mental health sectors in supporting people feeling cost of living pressures.

The guide’s release follows the Money and Mental Health: Social Research Report published in August 2022 by Beyond Blue and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which found people experiencing financial challenges were twice as likely to also experience mental health issues, and vice versa.

The guide seeks to inform and better equip finance and mental health sector workers regarding the relationship between money and mental health, and how to appropriately support people experiencing financial or mental difficulties.

“Financial pressure and mental health issues are two sides of the same coin – money worries can cause our mental health to deteriorate, and vice versa,” Beyond Blue CEO Georgie Harman said.

“In fact, a recent Beyond Blue representative survey found more than one third of people in Australia believed cost of living pressures had negatively affected their mental health.

“And when these challenges are exacerbated by natural disasters, global health crises, loss of social connections, job losses and housing instability – all of which have characterised the past few years – the effects can be devastating.

“We want people experiencing financial stress or mental health challenges to know that getting support before reaching breaking point can help you feel better earlier, get well and stay well.”

The new resource incorporates both information and hands-on tools to ensure both sectors are capable of referring people to financial counselling and offering options for mental health support systems.

Fiona Guthrie, Financial Counselling Australia chief executive, said the resource is important for services providers to be equipped with the necessary tools to guide people through several different challenges.

“Just as there is a direct relationship between financial wellbeing and mental health, knowing how to more effectively address those issues can have a positive impact on people’s resilience and recovery,” she said.

“This guide helps fill a much-needed gap and will help service providers provide practical support to people experiencing financial stress or mental health challenges.”

Beyond Blue is also set to launch an online training module to extend the capabilities of both sectors.