Self-paced

Learn at your own speed and revisit the material whenever you need.

New Knowledge and Skills

Build your knowledge and skills and apply them to your practice.

Interactive Learning

Engage in reflection activities and quizzes to reinforce your understanding.

About the Course

Financial Essentials is about more than just understanding the basics of financial counselling. It's designed to boost your confidence when working with clients, ensuring that the information you provide is not only accurate and up-to-date, but also practical. It will help you when delivering information, offering options, providing support, and advocating effectively for your clients. The course includes: - 57 structured lessons. - Engaging, interactive content. - Financial counselling in action with expert-led video role-plays. - Reflection activities to help you apply theory to practice. - Quizzes to reinforce learning. - Case studies and scenarios to practise applying best-practice financial counselling. - Opportunities to explore ethical and effective client support strategies. - Downloadable support resources.

Curriculum

8 Chapters · 57 Lessons

  1. 1

    Module 1 - Welcome and Overview

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 1 – Welcome to Financial Essentials

  2. 2

    Module 2 - Understanding the role of the financial counsellor

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 1 – Welcome to Module 2

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 2 – What is the Financial Counsellors Association of Western Australia (FCAWA), and how do they support financial counsellors?

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 3 – The role of the financial counsellor

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 4 – Financial counselling - An overview

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 5 – Financial counselling - The elements

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 6 – ASIC exemption and financial counsellors

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 7 – A service agreement

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 8 – Financial Counselling Appointments

    9. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 9 – Module 2 - Quiz

  3. 3

    Module 3 - The client

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 1 – Welcome to Module 3

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 2 – Helping your clients to understand the role of a financial counsellor

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 3 – The client

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 4 – Who is the client?

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 5 – The case study

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 6 – Remote client interviews

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 7 – Financial counselling in practice

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 8 – Module 3 - Quiz

  4. 4

    Module 4 – Applying ethics: Principles, dilemmas, and bias in practice

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 1 – Welcome to Module 4

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 2 – Code of Ethics

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 3 – Professional boundaries

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 4 – Professional boundaries in practice

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 5 – Confidentiality

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 6 – Privacy and confidentiality

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 7 – Conflict of interest

  5. 5

    Module 5 – Practising ethically and respectfully in financial counselling

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 1 – Welcome to Module 5

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 2 – A supportive non-judgemental approach

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 3 – The right attitude in financial counselling

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 4 – Advocacy vs negotiation in financial counselling

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 5 – Ethical dilemmas

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 6 – What is unconscious bias?

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 7 – Module 5 - Quiz

  6. 6

    Module 6 – Working effectively with clients

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 1 – Welcome to Module 6

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 2 – Basic communication skills

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 3 – Body language

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 4 – Language and tone

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 5 – Empathy

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 6 – Effective questioning

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 7 – Effective listening

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 8 – Case assessment

    9. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 9 – A client’s knowledge and skills

    10. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 10 – Mental health

    11. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 11 – Legal capacity

    12. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 12 – Family and domestic violence (FDV)

    13. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 13 – Gambling, homelessness and referrals

  7. 7

    Module 7 – Practical practice

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 1 – Welcome to Module 7

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 2 – Case notes

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 3 – Short-term money plans (STMP)

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 4 – Creating action plans in financial counselling

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 5 – Closing files

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 6 – Supervision

  8. 8

    Module 8 - Managing stress

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 1 – Welcome to Module 8

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 2 – Stress – An overview

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 3 – What’s stress?

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 4 – Recognising signs of stress

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 5 – Time management

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Lesson 6 – Final words

About FCAWA

FCAWA is the peak body and voice of financial counselling in WA. We advocate for financial wellbeing and promote excellence in the sector to achieve our goals of financially resilient communities and reduced hardship for all. We provide financial counsellors with training, resources, events and professional support so they can deliver free, independent and confidential help to people facing financial hardship. We also advocate for systemic change, working with government, regulators, and agencies to make financial systems fairer and more compassionate. As the driver of frontline impact and systemic change, FCAWA is a high-value, high-impact partner for government, agencies, and the community.

Ready to extend your knowledge and skills?

Don’t let uncertainty in your practice hold you back. Extend your knowledge, skills and confidence to support clients effectively in your role.

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