2.0 Service Providers Responsibilities:

Transcription

1 2.0 Service Providers Responsibilities: maintaining the independence of service delivery; recognising the importance of and supporting the ongoing Professional Development needs of Financial Counselling staff; keeping relevant and up-to-date agency policies, procedures and resources, particularly in the area of Financial Counselling service provision; ensure adequate levels of professional indemnity insurance are obtained for Financial Counsellors; ensuring Financial Counsellors are provided with adequate levels of professional supervision; recognising the role of a Financial Counsellor Occupational Health and Safety legislation for the workplace, as well as personal safety, managing workloads and stress. -Maintaining the independence of service delivery To ensure the Financial Counselling service remains independent it is critical that Financial Counselling services avoid obtaining sponsorship or funding from credit providers or people with business interests that might conflict with clients best interests. Also with the The Financial Services Reform Act 2001 which replaced chapters 7 and 8 of the Corporations Act of the Commonwealth with a set of provisions relating to dealing in financial products, and giving advice on them. Financial Counselling organisations made representations to the Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) which has now created a class order that exempts Financial Counselling agencies from the requirement to be licensed when they provide financial product advice provided that certain conditions are met. However the type of financial product about which Financial Counsellors can give advice is limited, the service must be free of charge and the Counsellor and agency must meet a certain standard. More specifically the conditions include:

2 A) Financial Counsellors do not give advice to clients about purchasing investment products, such as shares or managed investments; and B) No fees or charges are paid by clients for any aspect of the Financial Counselling service; C) The Financial Counselling agency is likewise not paid (including by commission) directly or indirectly in relation to any action of the client; or D) The Financial Counselling agency does not operate or participate in a financial services business beyond the scope of this relief, and takes all reasonable steps to ensure that none of its employees do so. -Recognising the importance of and supporting the ongoing professional development needs of Financial Counselling staff. An important management responsibility is to ensure Financial Counsellors are properly trained and can provide clients with an effective service. By providing professional development opportunities to Financial Counselling staff, organisations can obtain better performance from staff and can thus deliver a better service to clients. The ASIC act also requires that Financial Counsellors have undertaken appropriate training to ensure they have adequate skills and knowledge to satisfactorily provide the financial services and any other aspect of the Financial Counselling service The professional development needs of Financial Counsellors should be discussed with the manager/ coordinator or nominated management committee member at recruitment, at the annual staff performance review and at supervision sessions. The manager/coordinator/ committee member should be responsible for ensuring that the basic training needs of Financial Counsellors are met.

3 In fact with the ASIC guidelines, Counsellors must attend training, and agencies which are reluctant to allow their Counsellors to attend training should be advised that if they do not ensure that their Counsellors have adequate training, then the agency and the Counsellors will not have the protection of the ASIC exemption, and could well be involved in a breach of the Financial Services Reform Act provisions. This may be through: the provision of a staff orientation kit and / or procedures manual; the provision of the Introduction to Financial Counselling package (produced by the Financial Counsellors Resource Project); referral to an external training course e.g. Diploma in Financial Counselling (in Western Australia, Central TAFE Centre for Community Services) linking Counsellors with their State Association, resource providers and other Financial Counsellors Basic Training should ensure that Financial Counsellors receive: induction training through an orientation session. This will cover the staff orientation kit and the content and use of the organisation s Policy and Procedures Manual; training on occupational health and safety issues and in the use of equipment; training regarding the legal responsibilities associated with their work; training related to clients issues; training when legislation changes have taken place Organisations should support staff in professional development relevant to a Financial Counsellor s work and which benefit the organisation. Approving Financial Counsellors attendance at casework support meetings, information days, seminars and conferences; Allowing flexibility of working hours to enable Financial Counsellors to participate in relevant courses; ASIC Relief has been provided to employing agencies not to individual Counsellors. Therefore agencies must ensure that the

4 workers only undertake work that they are trained and supported to deliver. Employing agencies must be supportive by providing funding and time (and relief or modified workloads). The opportunity for professional development should also be provided to volunteers. Purchasing resources such as relevant literature and making these available to Financial Counsellors. (This information is based on section 8 from Managing a Community Organisation in Australia written by Leslie Gevers.) -Keeping relevant and up to date agency policies, procedures and resources, particularly in the area of Financial Counselling service provision. A policy and procedures manual is a written record of the agreed policies and procedures of a service. The manual should be readily available to all staff involved in the management or work of a service. The service provider is responsible for developing and maintaining a policy and procedures manual for the service. It is essential that policy and procedure manuals are regularly updated. Policy and procedures manuals will differ from agency to agency. The aim of a policy and procedure manual is to ensure that a consistent and high quality service is provided to consumers. Policy can vary from a general guideline for action to very specific rules. Policy can include setting the broad directions for the service, right down to specifying operational procedures. (This information is based on section 10 from Managing a Community Organisation in Australia written by Leslie Gevers.) Funds should be allocated in the annual budget for the purchase of new and up to date resources. Useful Financial Counselling resources to have access to are included in the FCRP Introduction to Financial Counselling package and new resources are included in the FCRP E-News and on the FCRP web-site.

5 -Ensure adequate levels of professional indemnity insurance are obtained for Financial Counsellors. It is the Service Provider s responsibility to ensure all Financial Counsellors are covered by professional indemnity insurance. Professional indemnity insurance covers people against damages through their own negligence or inappropriate advice. Financial Counsellors have a duty of care to their clients. A Financial Counsellor and their employing agency can be sued for damages by a client if the client has been placed at a disadvantage by a Financial Counsellors actions or lack of action. While all care can be taken in ensuring that you or your agency does not allow the opportunity to be sued for negligence through good work practises, it is still necessary to insure the agency and its employees against any liability that may arise as a result of a negligence action. Check with your service provider or management committee that your service has a professional indemnity insurance policy in place. If you are not insured it would be wise not to provide any Financial Counselling until a suitable policy is in place. (Taken from FCAWA Manual Chapter 4 p.12) -Ensure Financial Counsellors are provided with adequate levels of professional supervision Ongoing supervision is an important part of the performance review process and is critical to effective staff management. Supervision is intended to be a support mechanism to assist Financial Counsellors to reflect on and review work issues. By necessity supervision may not always be a formal, regular structure, but some form of supervision to ensure that a Financial Counsellor is able to discuss issues that are affecting them, is important. These issues include casework issues, management and workplace issues, professional and ethical issues, professional boundaries and can also include personal

6 issues that are impacting on the Financial Counsellor s work. Supervision often occurs informally on a day to day basis. Formal supervision sessions should be conducted monthly where possible to provide an opportunity to follow through on staff development issues as an opportunity to discuss issues arising from casework and to identify staff training and development needs. Formal supervision is particularly important in organisations where staff and their manager do not work closely together and a supervision session is the only opportunity for discussion and reflection. Formal supervision may consist of regular meetings with another professional who may offer advice and support. The professional may not be a Financial Counsellor, but may be able to identify where/when boundaries are blurred, discuss sources of further information/ knowledge, and assist with problem solving by providing ideas and support. Less formal supervision may involve all of the above, but may not be regular and may only occur when a specific issue arises. Sometimes people feel uncomfortable about calling for support but it is important to remember that reviewing and discussing issues is a best practise standard. of the organisation s Policy and Procedures Manual; training on occupational health and safety issues and in the use of equipment; training regarding the legal responsibilities associated with their work; training related to clients issues; training when legislation changes have taken place Organisations should support staff in professional development relevant to Financial Counsellor s work and which benefit the organisation. Approving Financial Counsellors attendance at casework support meetings, information days, seminars and conferences; Allowing flexibility of working hours to enable Financial Counsellors to participate in relevant courses; ASIC Relief has been provided to employing agencies not to individual Counsellors therefore agencies must ensure that the workers only undertake work that they are trained and supported

7 to deliver. Employing agencies must be supportive.by providing funding and time (and relief or modified workloads). The opportunity for professional development should also be provided to volunteers. Purchasing resources such as relevant literature and making these available to Financial Counsellors. (Taken from FCAWA Manual Chapter 6 p.17 and section 8 from Managing a Community Organisation in Australia written by Leslie Gevers.) -Recognising the role of a Financial Counsellor. Financial Counselling is not just casework. It is not just bums on seats. Financial Counsellors are also involved in community development and education, social action and reform and group or class advocacy. In addition, it is essential that Financial Counsellors attend training and professional development activities to maintain and extend their skills and knowledge so as to ensure clients are receiving the best service possible. Some employers do not understand the in depth nature of Financial Counselling and the time intensive work it demands. Some agencies may pressure Financial Counsellors to take on more clients because they believe it may attract more funding. -Occupational Health and Safety legislation for the workplace, as well as personal safety, managing workloads and stress. Service providers as the employer have an obligation under the occupational health and safety legislation to ensure the health and safety of Their workers while they are at work and People who visit the workplace

8 Employers must Ensure workers are not exposed to hazards in the course of their work Ensure visitors to the service are not exposed to health and safety risks Provide information and training to ensure the health and safety and provide a safe working environment for workers Service providers must be aware of the client load of their Financial Counsellors so as to ensure that clients are receiving the best possible service. Work overload will often trigger stress. Factors that will influence what a realistic caseload should be include: The hours the Counsellor works (full-time or part-time) The experience the Financial Counsellor has the complexity of issues that clients present with support available to the Financial Counsellor e.g. administration Service providers should also act in accordance with State and Federal legislation for anti-discrimination and equal opportunity legislation.