Financial counselling is an essential community service that offers a critical lifeline to individuals and families facing financial hardship. This report provides a social return on investment (SROI) analysis of the financial counselling sector in Victoria, including estimation of the economic benefits delivered by the sector. Sub-group analysis reveals significant benefits for three key client groups: clients affected by family violence, small business owners and clients with disability.

Key findings

• The research found that each dollar spent on delivering financial counselling services in Victoria delivers a SROI between $3.70 and $5.30.
• The benefits are estimated to be in the range of $126 million to $179 million each year.
• Benefits include avoided administrative and transaction costs, reduced costs of providing government services, greater workplace productivity and improved health and wellbeing.