Building super pathways for regional communities
16 July 2021
GESB recently attended the Financial Counsellors’ Association of WA’s (FCAWA) Kimberley Forum in Broome to join ongoing efforts to address regional community issues for people in financial hardship.
FCAWA supports financial counsellors and their clients through education, information, resources, and relevant legal support. In regional areas, their support provides members of the community, especially those living in remote areas, with financial assistance on a range of topics including superannuation.
The Kimberley Forum brought together financial counsellors from regional WA, local community Elders and a number of organisations including the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) to discuss barriers remote communities face to financial literacy and independence.
Forming partnerships through reconciliation
GESB's Tricia Bailly and Wunan Foundation's Tevy Naroba
The launch of our first Reconciliation Action Plan in 2019 formalised our efforts to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in ways that meet their needs and help improve superannuation outcomes.
As a result, we attended First Nations Foundation’s Big Super Day Out in Broome and Kununurra, which brought together super funds, local and national government services, and regional and community organisations, including FCAWA counsellors.
Our Key Account Manager, Tricia Bailly, attended the events on GESB’s behalf. She came to the realisation that more support was needed to assist regional counsellors and their clients; a significant portion of which were GESB members and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
“The types of assistance FCAWA counsellors provide to our members include consolidation of super, insurance claims, financial hardship requests and dealing with deceased estates,” she said.
“It became clear that they face unique challenges when making claims or requests, not only because of their remote location and cultural barriers, but because their clients may not have access to computers, email or phones.
“It was also apparent that the counsellors were not aware of the unique untaxed schemes that GESB administers and the impact of State Legislation on outcomes and processes for our members.
Tricia identified an opportunity to partner with FCAWA to assist in escalating and identifying unresolved matters and assisting financial counsellors to support our members and improve outcomes. In some instances GESB had to consider adapting processes where appropriate.
Maintaining an open dialogue
Tricia’s attendance at the Kimberley Forum provided an opportunity to educate regional counsellors about GESB schemes and superannuation.
“Presenting at the Kimberley Forum was a significant platform through which we could help counsellors to understand our unique schemes and why there are differences in our processes,” Tricia said.
“I was also able to provide an update on industry changes that may affect their clients and connect regional partners with our team of Key Account Managers. It was an important step in ensuring improved experiences and outcomes for our vulnerable members.”
Information for regional employers
We’re building better relationships with regional partners to ultimately assist our members in those communities.
We’ve taken several steps, including partnering with First Nations Foundation to offer members access to the My Money Dream online financial literacy program.
If you’re a regional employer, get in touch with your Key Account Manager to learn more about what we’re doing to help your employees.
Find out more
- Learn how we’re helping to support students in regional communities
- Read our ‘Innovate’ Reconciliation Action Plan
- Read about the other ways we’re creating pathways in WA
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