We see them quite often, those helpline numbers offering specialist help for a variety of community concerns.
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But when you call that number, who is going to be on the other end of the line?
Wagga's Nick Georgiou is one of the people who you might encounter if you pick up the phone to get some financial help.
He's a financial counsellor with the National Debt Helpline, a not-for-profit telephone-based service that helps people in Australia tackle their debt problems. The service is free to users.
"I love that this role puts me on the front line to help people work though what can sometimes be complex debt issues. It's great to be able to offer practical solutions that can very quickly change their lives for the better," Mr Georgiou said.
Wagga-born and raised, Mr Georgiou has been working as a financial counsellor for four years, having decided to make the change after a previous career in banking.
"After working in the banking industry for years I saw that sometimes people can quickly fall into arrears on their commitments and that can very quickly raise their stress levels and erode their ability to cope," he said.
"It can happen easily and for so many reasons; they may not have the right level of financial literacy and awareness, or perhaps they're dealing with serious family, personal or health issues. At the moment it's happening to a new group of people who have never been unemployed before.
"Helping people get relief from their money issues early on can give them that extra bit of space and energy to face with whatever else they are dealing with."
Mr Georgiou finds every call is as unique as the person dialling the number, but he has noticed there are some similarities between callers from regional areas, and that these can differ from those coming from cities.
"Callers in regional areas are often faced with the problem of distance and travel costs to access the right services," he said.
"Some of our community members prefer to be linked to face-to-face services in case they have issues with using technology, language barriers or would just rather speak to someone in person. The NDH is able to assist by helping callers locate the closest and most appropriate service for their needs."
But 2020 has not just presented challenges caused by drought and bushfires. The coronavirus lockdowns have also had a well-documented financial impact.
According to figures released this week, Australians lost another 227,000 jobs during May, with the unemployment rate reaching 7.1 per cent, its highest level since 2001.
Earlier this month, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Australia would enter a technical recession when the June quarter GDP data was released, breaking a record of 28 years without one.
"At 0.3 per cent, we compare to Japan at 0.9 per cent [quarterly contraction], Korea a little bit higher, the United States at 1.3 per cent," Mr Frydenberg said.
"In recent months, especially due to COVID, we've seen an increase in calls from people who never thought they would be seeking financial advice and don't know what options are available to them." Mr Georgiou said.
"The National Debt Helpline is similar to a GP office in this regard. If you have any issues related to your financial health, have any questions and concerns, we are able to identify the key issues when you call us and if we can't give you the solutions required during the phone call, we can refer you to local specialists who can."
While the thought of dialling an unknown telephone number may be daunting, Mr Georgiou believes there are advantages.
"Another issue we are mindful of is that regional towns tend to be tight-knit communities and people can have concerns about privacy. Even just being seen to be accessing help at the local community service providers can delay some peoples access to help," the father-of-two said.
Mr Georgiou said services like the National Debt Helpline allowed people to make a call and get some advice on what their next steps should be.
However, he said the rolling impact of drought, the bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic was that many more people in regional areas were also now willing to reach out for help.
"We are seeing the stigma around talking about financial hardship being broken down in the same way the stigma around talking about mental health is being broken down," Mr Georgiou said.
Another issue we are mindful of is that regional towns tend to be tight-knit communities and people can have concerns about privacy. Even just being seen to be accessing help at the local community service providers can delay some peoples access to help.
- Nick Georgiou
Maura Angle, the director of community engagement with the National Debt Helpline, said the issues people were calling about had changed with the drought, bushfires and coronavirus.
"An important aspect of natural disaster is that people calling in are dealing with grief and loss and our financial counsellors are trained to deal with this," Ms Angle said.
"Also, the types of calls are different. There are more about insurance and how to deal with under-insurance or rejected insurance claims. Also calls from people with no insurance."
"The other big issue is people who are indirectly affected by drought and fire. For example, a cafe may not have been burnt down, but they may have next to no business because many of their customers have had their homes and businesses damaged. We got many calls from people like this. The hard thing for them is that they are not entitled to the same assistance as those who are directly affected."
- Call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007, or visit the website at www.ndh.org.au