Jamie Jansen

Journalist

People living in the Douglas Shire who are in financial hardship and in need of financial support and advice now have a place to turn to.

Recently the Queensland Financial Resilience Program was introduced in our Shire, The program offers specialist services including financial counselling, financial resilience and literacy, and assistance to access the No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS).

The Queensland State Government program was initiated as a response to support Queenslanders impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, providing support for community members requiring financial advice and advocacy with creditors.

The Port Douglas Neighbourhood Centre is one of 20 locations that were chosen to deliver this model across Queensland.

Community needs

Megan Blacklow is Financial Resilience Worker under the Queensland Financial Resilience Program. She supports and assists clients proactively to build capability and to offer support for community members when experiencing financial challenges.

“My role is to be present and visible within our community, be responsive to community needs and to build financial capability in our community”, she told Newsport.

“I presently am outreaching at the Mossman Community Centre on a Monday, working with the staff to offer short term immediate financial solutions to clients presenting for Emergency Relief.

“The remainder of the week I am at the Port Douglas Neighbourhood Centre where I assist community members via face-to-face appointments.

“This is a pilot program and Port Douglas Neighbourhood Centre is very excited to be part of the state response post Covid-19 to offer assistance and support around the impacts such as the rising cost of living, the rising housing costs, and people displacement.”

Many financial challenges

Ms Blacklow is seeing many financial challenges at present.

“Through our program community members have the opportunity to sit down with someone and talk about it, and have them really focus on their financial well-being,” she explained.

“We know there are many people in the community that will benefit from this service, we anticipate the uptake to be even larger than expected.

“Due to the current housing crisis, there are many people renting private property who can be evicted anytime. I consider anyone renting privately in the Douglas Shire to be at risk of homelessness.

“When a private tenancy lease comes to an end, it is likely that the owners either sell the property or increase the rent to an unsustainable amount. There is no solution to this systemic issue that is a result of the property boom in our area following Covid-19 and the influx of people moving to our Shire.”

Offering help

According to Ms Blacklow, the Queensland Financial Resilience Program can assist with specific financial issues, high debt levels, budgeting and financial goal setting.

“We can support people to understand their finances, to become more financially secure, to better manage money with the ultimate aim of financial freedom," Ms Blacklow said.

“We have been delighted with the response to date and the outcomes we have already been able to support our clients to achieve.

“The most rewarding part of my job is having the opportunity to work with amazing people every day and hopefully have a positive impact in their life.”

For more information about the Queensland Financial Resilience Program in the Douglas Shire you can head over to the Facebook Page or click here.