How we manage your money
When we’re appointed to be your financial administrator, we’ll arrange a time to meet and discuss your needs. You can bring a support person with you to this meeting.
We take the following steps to work with you to find out what’s important and find ways to help manage your money.
Step 1: We meet with you
We meet with you to talk about your goals and ways we can support you with your money. At this meeting we:
- get to know you and find out what is important to you
- get information from you to better understand your money matters
- explain how we will help you
- explain how you get access to money when you need it
- explain our fees and charges
- deal with any urgent money matters, like overdue bills
- answer your questions.
Step 2: We make a budget with you
We review your budget with you each year to make sure it supports your goals and lifestyle. If things in your life change, we will work with you to update your budget.
Your budget will show:
- how much money you have
- how much is needed for bills and everyday expenses
- how much money you have left for personal spending or to save for things you may want in the future.
- If you owe anyone money, we work out a re-payment plan with them and include this in the budget.
Step 3: We make sure you get the right income
We make sure you get the income you’re entitled to such as:
- extra payments from Centrelink, like rent assistance
- applying for pension entitlements
- asking people to pay you if they owe you money.
Step 4: We manage your income and expenses
We look after your money, so your bills are paid and you have money for everyday expenses.
Everything will always stay in your name, and we’ll always talk to you, so you’re involved in any decisions about your money.
If you need extra money that was not budgeted for, you can talk to us. We can see what money you have and the options that may be available to you.
Step 5: We provide you with financial statements
We give you a regular statement at least once a year that shows:
- your income received and expenses paid
- your assets such as savings, property or investments
- fees and charges for our services.
Additional services we can provide
Disability support services
We have a team of Allied Health Professionals who can assist you to navigate financial matters relating to disability, health and aged care services. This includes helping you get access to:
- the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
- specialist equipment
- home and vehicle modifications
- accommodation services.
Aged care services
We can help if you’re living in or moving into an aged care facility. We can also help you with things like completing the necessary paperwork, and establishing payments for aged care fees, a chemist account and any other expenses.
Legal services
We can provide legal services to resolve any issues relating to your money or property.
Investment services
If you have investments, we manage them according to our Customer Investment Strategy.
Find out more about how we invest our customers’ funds.
Tax services
We attend to all your tax requirements. This includes completing annual income tax returns as required.
Property services
If you own a property, we can help you with:
- organising regular property inspections
- overseeing repairs and maintenance
- arranging valuations and property sales
- removing belongings and having the home cleaned.
Things we can’t do
We can only help manage the money you already have. So, if your only income is a pension, that is all the money we can help manage. If you can’t afford something, we work with you to find options that fit your budget, as we can’t give you money you don’t have.
We can’t make lifestyle decisions for you such as where you are going to live, but we can help with the decision about whether you can afford it or not.
We won’t make decisions about your money without talking to you first.
We can’t decide to stop being your financial administrator. This needs to be decided by QCAT. However, we can support you with information about steps you can take to apply for our appointment to be reviewed by QCAT.