Our annual Report to the Community is on this Thursday, so you still have time to register. We hope you can join us, we've had a fantastic response already and look forward to welcoming people from across our huge catchment. Our Annual Report's focus this year is Collaborations: Changing Lives. We're proud of the work done in close partnership with a number of services, and the stories we'll be sharing highlight the impact we have for our clients.

The Energy & Water Ombudsman Victoria, Cynthia Gebert, is co-hosting an information session on Wednesday 18 November with HRCLS for services in North East Victoria.

Ms Gebert will be in attendance to: 

·       provide insights into the 2019-2020 financial year which saw an overall drop in cases of 24%.

·       provide local insights as to the trends and issues of cases including Towong Shire which recorded the highest percentage increase in 2019-20, up 95% 

·       provide feedback, and seek insights into the case trends of those impacted by the summer bushfires

·       identify opportunities to work more closely with you

We also welcome the opportunity to hear your feedback on the issues and trends you are seeing in the community, as well as discover how we can best align our services based on our needs.  

RSVP - please contact Ruth Harley, Senior Community Outreach and Engagement Officer at Ruth.Harley@ewov.com.au or phone 03 8672 4280.  

People need access to affordable and suitable loans. But without adequate protections, people can end up in trouble and needing help to get their lives back on track. The  Federal Government wants to wind back responsible lending laws that have been in place for more than a decade. We have joined with many others in our sector to tell the Government this will harm people and families. Removing responsible lending protections is irresponsible. and clients we have spoken to agree with us. If you would like to support our effort, please contact Simon Crase at scrase@umfc.com.au.    

The Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre (MGFVPC) is conducting the first national examination of current practices and future directions for screening, identifying, assessing and managing men’s risk of DFV perpetration across specialist men’s and mainstream services in Australia.

The MGFVPC is seeking sector input and support for survey promotion and completion. The national survey takes up to 10 minutes to complete and can be accessed through this link. For further information about the survey please refer to the Monash University website here. 

UMFC Financial Counselling – phone appointments available. Call 02 6055 8000 to speak with a financial counsellor.

Uniting Goulburn North East Financial and Gambling Counselling - Financial counsellors are operating on the phone (02) 6021 7099 or email stdavids@vt.uniting.org. 

Anglicare Riverina - email riverinafc@anglicare.com.au to speak with a financial counsellor who can help you sort out problems with your finances and get you on the right track.