As the peak body for financial counselling in South Australia and the Northern Territory, our role is to represent and support the profession by providing a voice in state debates and policy making. We also advocate for a fairer marketplace and fair treatment on behalf of the public.

Our priorities are based on our strategic plan that has five goals:

• Funding: Achieve adequate and sustainable funding for SAFCA and the sector.
• Member support: Ensure our members feel supported by SAFCA.
• Engagement: Engage widely with Financial Counselling Australia and other State Associations, government, agencies, funders, credit providers, utilities and others.
• Advocate: Advocate for disadvantaged and vulnerable people in financial difficulty.
• Governance: Ensure SAFCA is a well governed, strong, adaptive organisation that is valued by members, government, industry and other stakeholders. 

Advocacy

One of our key goals is to campaign and advocate for legislative and policy reforms that result in better treatment for those struggling with financial problems and a fairer marketplace for all. As part of our policy and advocacy work, we write submissions and reports and comment on government policy and other matters that are relevant to financial counsellors and their clients. To see our submissions, click here. 

Training and development

We are dedicated to providing professional development resources and opportunities for financial counsellors so they can better serve the community. This includes offering webinars and e-learning on relevant topics, and running our annual conference which includes a number of professional development sessions.

Annual conference

The SAFCA conference, held over two days in November every year, brings together stakeholders from industry, government, financial services and the financial counselling sector to share information, experiences and ideas and to celebrate achievements.

The conference provides training and development opportunities for financial counsellors and avenues to build positive working relationships with industry to better support people experiencing financial stress. It attracts high-profile and respected speakers, including consumer advocates, politicians, regulators and industry representatives. We are not afraid to try new things and have a reputation for a fast-moving and creative conference. Participants are challenged by new ideas and find out about emerging trends affecting financial counselling as well as industry developments in areas such as finance, superannuation, telecommunications and utilities.