Diploma of Financial Counselling
CHC51122
Financial hardship can affect anyone, and AIPC's Diploma of Financial Counselling prepares you to help. You'll gain specialised skills grounded in counselling and community services disciplines, ready to launch a new career or complement one you already have in teaching, nursing, ministry, corrective services or administration.
As a Financial Counsellor, you will have the ability to assist those who are facing financial hardship.
AIPC is the largest provider of counselling courses in the country. We have specialised in counsellor training for over 30-years. We have proudly helped over 55,000 people from 27 countries pursue their personal and career interests in counselling.
Our Diploma of Financial Counselling provides you with the specialised skills and knowledge to work in the field of Financial Counselling, with underpinning understanding of the Counselling and Community Services disciplines.
Whether you are seeking a fresh start in a worthwhile profession; or want to acquire financial counselling skills as an adjunct to you core profession – such as teachers, nurses, ministers of religion, corrective services officers and administrators, the Diploma of Financial Counselling is applicable to people from all backgrounds.
You are able to gain entry to the Diploma of Financial Counselling if you are over 18 years of age and have:
Completed Year 12, or
Completed a Certificate III qualification, or
have at least 3 years of sufficient life experience (work or study), if over 21 years of age.
Reduced Upfront (and enjoy a substantial discount).
Take advantage of our Fortnightly or Monthly Payment Plans
Pay via Credit Card or Direct Debit.
Our Student Support Centres are located in:
Brisbane
Sunshine Coast
Gold Coast & Northern Rivers
Sydney
Melbourne
Adelaide
Perth
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Course Recognition
Why study our Diploma of Financial Counselling
Our Diploma of Financial Counselling is a journey of self discovery, providing deep insight into why you think and behave as you do.
Career ready
When you graduate, you will be extremely well prepared to pursue a career in Financial Counselling – employed or self-employed – enjoying our strong industry reputation and linkage.
Extremely applicable
The Diploma is extremely applicable to people from all sorts of backgrounds. Whether you are seeking a fresh start in a rewarding profession; or want to acquire counselling skills as an adjunct to your core profession – such as teachers, nurses, ministers of religion, corrective services officers and administrators.
Counselling education specialists
We believe you're better off learning from a specialist than a generalist. Many training providers deliver courses across a variety of industries. At AIPC, we prefer to concentrate on counselling and community services education.
Flexible learning
With so many demands on our time it can be difficult to fit study in around other commitments, that's why Diploma of Financial Counselling has been designed to maximise your learning from home where you can progress through your studies at your own pace.
Career ready
When you graduate, you will be extremely well prepared to pursue a career in Financial Counselling – employed or self-employed – enjoying our strong industry reputation and linkage.
Extremely applicable
The Diploma is extremely applicable to people from all sorts of backgrounds. Whether you are seeking a fresh start in a rewarding profession; or want to acquire counselling skills as an adjunct to your core profession – such as teachers, nurses, ministers of religion, corrective services officers and administrators.
Counselling education specialists
We believe you're better off learning from a specialist than a generalist. Many training providers deliver courses across a variety of industries. At AIPC, we prefer to concentrate on counselling and community services education.
Flexible learning
With so many demands on our time it can be difficult to fit study in around other commitments, that's why Diploma of Financial Counselling has been designed to maximise your learning from home where you can progress through your studies at your own pace.
Course Outline
Provide services to people with co-existing mental health and other alcohol and other drugs issues
This unit introduces you to the skills and knowledge to work together with clients with co-existing mental health and AOD issues, such as working collaboratively to develop and implement a plan of action to address their co-existing needs. You will also learn how to provide support and services to clients such that the risks they may experience are minimised and address their needs for further care, if required.
Facilitate the interests and rights of clients # *
This unit focuses on the individual needs and rights of clients and how to assist them.
Work with diverse people
This unit gives the student the opportunity to reflect upon gender, culture, ethnicity, subculture, sexuality and ability and how they are each to be valued and respected within our community and a counselling context.
Promote Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural safety
Students will gain the relevant skills and knowledge to work respectfully within diverse cultures and social situations, including Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Students will learn how to identify, develop strategies and model cultural safety issues within the workplace and with clients.
Develop and implement community programs *
Students will gain the skills and knowledge to be able to source, analyse, develop and implement community programs.
Establish and confirm the counselling relationship #
The unit introduces a structured approach to counselling to establish the client-counsellor relationship.
Apply specialist interpersonal and counselling interview skills #
This unit involves the exploration and application of skills and knowledge required to use advanced interpersonal communication skills to facilitate the client-counsellor relationship in a counselling situation.
Support counselling clients in decision-making processes #
Students learn how to assist clients to clarify their goals, explore options and develop a course of action.
Recognise and respond to crisis situations #
This unit focuses on working effectively with clients at risk or in crisis. Particularly, you will learn how to identify, address and respond to various crisis situations, and facilitate referrals where appropriate. You will also learn about the importance of self-care and supervision in crisis support work.
Recognise and respond appropriately to domestic and family violence #
Students will learn how to identify and respond to the needs of clients who may be experiencing domestic and family violence, including responding to immediate intervention and support needs.
Establish the financial counselling relationship # *
This unit reviews the skills and knowledge required to holistically assess and respond to the immediate and ongoing needs of clients and responding by using a structured and client-focused financial counselling approach.
Interpret and use legal information # *
Students learn how to source and interpret relevant legislation and regulations to support clients.
Provide advice, counselling and representation to financial counselling clients # *
Students learn how to analyse and use technical information to assist clients to understand their rights and make informed decisions about financial and other issues.
Apply professional standards in financial counselling # *
This unit provides the skills and knowledge that financial counsellors require to maintain standards of professional practice in the provision of financial counselling.
Provide financial counselling and systemic advocacy within a social justice framework # *
Students learn how to provide financial counselling services to clients who are impacted by systemic issues and to participate in systemic advocacy.
Apply basic concepts of small business to financial counselling *
This unit helps students identify the structure and current financial position of a small business and provide information and advice as part of the delivery of financial counselling services to a client with a small business.
Reflect on and improve own professional practice
The final unit focuses on the importance of engaging in a reflective practice and professional development. Specifically, you will learn to reflect on and evaluate your professional practice, partake in supervision processes, and plan for ongoing professional development to support a sustainable practice framework.
# These units require the practical demonstration of skills in a real or simulated work environment.
* This course also requires completion of a work placement of a minimum of 220 hours.
At AIPC we have a payment method to suit every student. If you decide to pay for your course upfront you will enjoy a substantial discount, and you can concentrate on your studies without thinking about further payments.
If you would prefer to spread your payments, you can take advantage of our fortnightly or monthly payment plans.
To further assist make training as accessible as possible, we separate payment for tuition (theory elements) from that of the practical course elements. Payment for the practical elements is done as they are undertaken. See full details below.
We always strive to keep tuition as affordable as possible, opening up quality education for everyone.
Course* | Reduced Upfront Payment | Fortnightly Payments** | Monthly Payments** |
|---|---|---|---|
Diploma of Financial Counselling | $4,990 | $147.50 | $295 |
+1 Advanced Study Major (+1 Free ASM) | $5,785 | $155 | $310 |
+2 Advanced Study Major (+2 Free ASM) | $6,580 | $175 | $350 |
+3 Advanced Study Major (+3 Free ASM) | $7,375 | $200 | $400 |
*Total upfront course cost is $6,745, which includes tuition of $4,990, plus 9 practical sessions each of $195. The practical elements are paid for as they are undertaken. They can be completed by online group workshop, via Zoom/Skype, by uploading a video demonstration, or by having a private assessor assess your skills.
**Fortnightly/Monthly payments can be made by Credit Card or Direct Debit.
For over 30 years AIPC has set the benchmark for service and support in education. We offer a complete external study support system that has been developed and refined over decades of research and continual student feedback.
As a student you have unlimited access to the Institute’s Toll Free 1300 Study Assistance Line. Our degree-qualified education advisers are available 9am and 5pm EST Monday to Friday to provide you with friendly academic support. Their focus is to support you throughout your studies so you can graduate in the time frame you set. This includes answering questions on assignment topics, personal coaching on assignment writing, and giving hints and tips on specific concepts. The Study Assistance Line is there whenever you feel you need a bit of extra guidance.
The structure of the Diploma of Financial Counselling ensures you graduate with sufficient practical skill so you can apply your financial counselling knowledge with confidence. The course includes a number of practical components that cover a range of topics including Case Management, Counselling and Interview Skills, the Financial Counselling Process and practical application of Financial Counselling techniques.
Because we have students all across Australia, and indeed the world, we provide a variety of flexible options to enable timely and effective completion of the practical components.
Students can elect to complete the practical components through online workshops via Zoom or Skype, uploading a video demonstration or one-on-one sessions with a private assessor. We have private assessors in numerous regional areas across Australia.
Students can also complete their practical components by recording their demonstration of skills and uploading to us. We have guidelines available to assist students compile their recordings and develop effective role plays to demonstrate their skills.
The Institute website is an extremely helpful study resource. Via the website you can access the My.AIPC Student Portal which is your link to numerous study support and e-learning functions. You can:
Download electronic versions of your workbooks,
Complete your activities and upload for marking,
Contact an Online Education Adviser for study assistance,
Access the Knowledge Base, a massive database of the most commonly asked academic questions, categorised for particular subjects, activities and concepts,
See when seminars are available in your area,
Plus much more.
The Institute has developed a comprehensive range of resources to help you expand your knowledge and practical skills throughout your studies and beyond.
The Institute also has a large reference list of books and resources for students who wish to broaden their reading. This list covers the areas of Counselling, Psychology, Sociology and Behavioural Science.
We have also developed a dedicated blog to complement your studies. At www.aipc.net.au/articles you'll find a plethora of articles covering a wide variety of counselling topics, as well as the latest information about what's happening in the industry — all in one place.
There are also numerous ways to connect to the Institute through social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Google + and Google Communities.
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Zero Risk
Your enrolment comes with a guarantee that empowers you to enrol risk-free. If, for any reason whatsoever you decide you do not want to proceed with your course within 30-day, we will give you a 100%, no questions asked, money back guarantee.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Diploma of Financial Counselling is the qualification you need to practise as a financial counsellor in Australia. Accounting and financial planning credentials don’t substitute for it. Graduates work in community organisations, community legal centres, not-for-profit agencies and local government services, helping people manage debt, bankruptcy, hardship and their rights as consumers. You’ll also need membership of your state financial counselling association, which this diploma makes you eligible for.
Financial counselling is a free and confidential service for people facing financial hardship, delivered independently of any lender or financial business. Financial counsellors help clients understand their options around debt, credit, bankruptcy and consumer rights, then advocate on their behalf with creditors and government agencies. The work combines counselling skills with advocacy within a social justice framework. Legislation restricts who can use the term, so only qualified counsellors in exempt agencies practise under it.
Financial counsellors support people whose circumstances have made their debts unmanageable. Clients come after job loss, illness, relationship breakdown, family violence, gambling harm or a business that didn’t survive. Many have been avoiding contact with creditors for months by the time they ask for help. The course also prepares you for clients managing mental health and substance use concerns at the same time, which a dedicated unit on co-existing needs covers directly.
AIPC teaches the Diploma of Financial Counselling online, so you can study from home anywhere in Australia. Full-time study takes around 12 months over 17 units, with part-time and self-paced options available if you need more time. The qualification includes 220 hours of work placement in a financial counselling agency, which you’ll complete in a service near where you live.
Students will also have the opportunity to do their work placement online through Financial Counselling Australia’s simulated workplace.
Financial counselling helps people in financial difficulty and is always free. Financial planning helps people manage and grow money they already have, and planners charge for their advice. Financial counselling agencies hold an exemption from the Australian Financial Services licensing on the condition that they take no fees and stay independent of any financial services business, whereas financial planners do need a licence.
Seventeen units cover both sides of the role, the counselling and the advocacy. You’ll learn to:
Assess a client’s financial situation and work out which debts to prioritise
Work through the consumer law, credit law, bankruptcy rules and hardship provisions that determine a client’s options
Negotiate hardship arrangements with creditors on a client’s behalf
Support clients with co-existing mental health and alcohol or other drug concerns
Develop plans of action with clients rather than for them
Recognise the risks a client faces and reduce them where you can
Yes. The Diploma of Financial Counselling teaches counselling and community services skills underneath its financial specialisation, so what you learn carries into community work more broadly. Financial counsellors are employed by community organisations, which puts you in a wider team from your first day. Graduates who continue to the Bachelor of Counselling automatically receive credit for four subjects, including Communication Skills and Counselling and Diversity.
This diploma might be a good pathway for you if advocacy appeals to you as much as counselling does, and you’re willing to learn a fair amount of law along the way. Financial counsellors need to be patient and empathic with clients who may feel ashamed and not in control of their situation, but they also need to advocate firmly and professionally with creditors on a client’s behalf. You’ll need to be over 18 and have completed Year 12 or a Certificate III. Three years of relevant life experience also qualifies you if you’re over 21.
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