AAP General News (Australia)
12-08-2008
Qld: Funds will help Lifeline keep more families afloat
By Gabrielle Dunlevy
BRISBANE, Dec 8 AAP - For the past 12 months, counsellor Jillian Fletcher has seen
financial crisis spread like a cancer.
The number of people making appointments to her service, Lifeline's financial counselling
arm, grew steadily, and the profile of those people broadened.
Where they were once people vulnerable to financial stress due to health and other
problems, more families considered to be working or middle class began to appear.
They were no longer from the far-reaches of Brisbane, but increasingly from closer
fringe suburbs like Redcliffe and Logan.
And in the past three months or so, the number who had suffered the heartache of mortgage
repossession also jumped.
In Tuesday's mid-year budget review, Lifeline will receive a grant of $3 million over
two years, as Queensland's unemployment is forecast to rise.
Ms Fletcher said the funding would double the number of appointments Lifeline could
handle - a huge relief to counsellors, distressed by the number of people they had to
turn away.
For many people, the tipping point came when lines of credit were exhausted, she told AAP.
"People have realised that their spending is not sustainable," Ms Fletcher said.
"They say: `I didn't realise I was (in financial trouble) until I wasn't able to re-finance
and consolidate my loans'.
"But as financial counsellors, we probably have less financial options that we can
offer people as well, because (lenders) don't give as many options as they used to."
Lifeline financial counsellors usually meet clients face-to-face, helping them get
to the root of their money problems.
They then explore the consequences of not paying bills or meeting repayments, and look
at options to lessen the burden.
The service is impartial, confidential and free.
AAP gd/pjo/jm
KEYWORD: BUDGETQLD LIFELINE
2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
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