This fund is designed to assist rural and regional financial counsellors to attend our annual conference, to be held 9-11 October at the Pullman Albert Park in Melbourne.
This fund is reserved for travel and accommodation costs only and does not cover the cost of the conference ticket. Individuals (and their employers) are still required to pay for an FCVic conference ticket. Reimbursement amounts will be calculated by a points-based formula.
Eligibility criteria
- Must be a current member of Financial Counselling Victoria
- Must be a financial counsellor where the primary place of employment is located further than 150km from metropolitan Melbourne, per the below map.
- Eligible travel costs (receipts must be provided within 4 weeks of the conference, dated within two days of the conference) include accommodation, fuel, train or bus tickets and parking
(Note - the distance was reduced to 150km from 200km on Thursday 18 July, to 125km on Thursday 15 August, and to 100km on Friday 13 September.
The requirement to be "currently working with clients" was removed on Thursday 15 August, opening it up to financial counsellors who are currently supervising, teaching, studying, or working in the sector in a different capacity.)
FCVic reserves the right to close the Travel Fund once allocation has been exhausted. FCVic also reserves the right to open up eligibility for the Travel Fund to those who live closer than 200km depending on levels of demand. This will be assessed regularly in the months leading up to the conference, and any changes in the administration of the Travel Fund will be advertised in the weekly Gazette newsletter for FCVic members.
How will travel reimbursements be calculated?
Each application will be allocated points to determine the amount of reimbursement available to the applicant. Each point is worth $25 of reimbursement value. Points will be allocated for:
- Direct distance from Melbourne CBD: 5 points for within 500km, 4 points for within 400km, 3 points for within 300km, 2 points for within 200km, 1 point for within 100km
- Size of employer and financial counselling team: 4 points if applicant is the only financial counsellor, 3 points for 2-4 FCs, 2 points for 5-9 FCs, 1 point for 10 FCs or more
- Seniority: 3 points if practicing 1-4 years, 2 points if practicing 5 years or more, 1 point if a senior FC or Team Leader
- Additional factors: 1 point each for – English as a second language, living with disability, First Nations
Example:
Sarah is a new FC (3 points) working in a service with 6 other FCs (2 points) in Warrnambool (3 points). She speaks English as a second language (1 point). Altogether, Sarah has 9 points allocated, worth $225 of reimbursement. Sarah puts this approved reimbursement amount towards her $350 two-night hotel booking, leaving only $125 to be paid by her employer.
What is the process?
- Submit application through dedicated online form for FCVic review
- FCVic will confirm if your application has been approved within a week, and how much reimbursement has been allocated to you
- You book your conference ticket and any travel costs
- You send travel costs receipts to FCVic through a dedicated online form within 4 weeks after the conference date.
- FCVic will process reimbursement requests on a fortnightly basis from August 2024.
Any questions?
Please send all questions about this travel fund to achan@fcvic.org.au.
We thank the Essential Services Commission again for their generous support of this FCVic Conference Travel Fund.