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Beyond Blue and Financial Counselling Australia have announced the launch of support resources to help Australians with cost-of-living pressures.
The partnership between Beyond Blue and Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) has produced a resource entitled Services Guide for Financial and Mental Wellbeing that is designed to inform the finance and mental health sectors about the relationship between mental health and money.
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The resource will act as a guide to help these sectors guide individuals who are experiencing financial hardship or mental distress towards suitable support.
The guide utilises practical tools and information to build the capacity of each sector in order to refer people who could benefit from financial counselling and mental health support.
Furthermore, the guide provides real-life examples of how financial and mental wellbeing intersect to assist services in identifying distress and support their communities.
Beyond Blue chief executive Georgie Harman said the organisation was proud of its ongoing partnership with FCA in order to develop more connections between the financial and mental health sectors to help people get support before they reach a crisis point.
“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,” Ms Harman added.
According to Ms Harman, a recent Beyond Blue representative survey revealed that more than one-third of Australians believed that cost-of-living pressures had proven detrimental to 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,” Ms Harman added.
“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.”
FCA CEO Fiona Guthrie said given the growing recognition of the link between financial hardship and mental health, service providers having the tools to guide people through their challenges was all the more important.
“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,” Ms Guthrie 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.”
Free financial counselling is available via the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007.
Free legal advice about money matters for First Nations people is available at Mob Strong Debt Helpline on 1800 808 488.
[RELATED: Rate hike to ‘tip people into financial hardship’, warns broker]
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