News

This is our second report on the cost-of-living crisis. Consumer Action’s financial counsellors are seeing more people, and diverse groups of people, grappling with financial stress and hardship.

On the frontlines, we see lives that have reached a crisis point. The costs of day-to-day survival have moved beyond people’s reach. People have
become entrenched in structural hardship and poverty. This is compounded by poor business practices like the “poverty premium”, for example, the high cost of financial products that people use to try to manage their money in impossible circumstances.

Financial counsellors are now seeing the impacts of years of sustained financial pressure on people’s lives. The unrelenting stress is impacting people’s mental health and wellbeing, with financial counsellors now seeing unprecedented levels of stress and anxiety in the community.

SNAPSHOT

Read the report PDF.