2018 Scholarship Winners

Banafsheh Abedali

Banafsheh is a community worker, with more than 6 year’s experience. She sees a lot of need for financial counsellors within the refugee and new arrival community. The number of people in the Persian and Afghan community is on the rise, so having Banafsheh there to help them (and speaking their language) will be of great benefit to the community.

Venetia Aprile

Venetia discovered that she had a passion for financial counselling when she was the intake and referral program coordinator at George Street Neighbourhood Association inc. This job sparked a desire to help people manage their money and make more informed choices. Venetia feels that by becoming a financial counsellor, she will be better able to serve the community she is working with.

Karen Bird

In her current role as an intake officer on the National debt helpline, Karen says that clients often disclose life changing events that impact on their financial situation. She feels she has skills and knowledge to assist clients and is hoping to further develop them with the Diploma of Financial Counselling.

Diane (Tang) Choo

Diane hopes to fight the vicious cycle of welfare dependency and inter-generational poverty. She wants to be on ‘the front line’, to speak out about injustice and negotiate and positive outcomes for people in crisis. Diane would also like to see financial literacy in the school curriculum, so that students leave school prepared to live independently.

Sarah Cooke

When her former career ended suddenly due to injury, Sarah revisited an interest in financial counselling that began eighteen years ago.  As a former client, Sarah remembers how compassionate, respectful and non-judgmental the counsellor was and how empowered she felt. This memory has driven Sarah to become a financial counsellor. She currently volunteers at United Care Community.

Alan Gray

Alan finds helping people shorten their list of problems and challenges enormously satisfying. He works with people in both Broome and in remote Aboriginal communities. He has a strong commitment to social justice and a strong interest in financial literacy. Alan is experienced in negotiating with banks, accountants, utilities, insurance companies and credit providers.

Sue Gunning

After working in the gambling sector for roughly twenty years Sue was not really aware of the huge impact gambling had on clients and their families financially until she started working as a financial counsellor 7 years ago

Since then, she has seen clients who feel so totally overwhelmed when they arrive but walk out after the first appointment saying that they feel like a huge weight has been lifted off their shoulders. Sue wishes to continue contributing to making a difference to clients and their families.

Andrea Jones

Andrea works in a regional/remote area of the Northern Territory in microfinance and wants to extend her study to the Diploma of Financial Counselling to enhance the service she can provide to her clients. Andrea is committed to social justice and advocacy for vulnerable and disadvantaged people.

Jaimee Marshall

Jaimee feels passionate about empowering women to take control of, and understand, their financial situation. Jaimee uses the skills she has as a financial capability worker to support the community at AnglicareSA’s Elizabeth Mission.  She is looking forward to developing her skills in the Diploma of Financial Counselling.

Louise Murphy

Having previously worked as a drug and alcohol worker, Louise moved to administration and finance when she had children. Louise believes that becoming a financial counsellor will give her the skills she needs to work with people to get positive outcomes by providing accurate advice and non-judgemental services.

Robert Rooth

Robert is from the Northern Territory. He feels that there is a need for more financial counsellors to assist large proportion of the NT population who need support to manage their finances. Robert hopes that becoming a financial counsellor will provide him with greater confidence in his ability to advocate for clients and stand up for the everyday Australians.

Katie Sedunary

After leaving her employer of 16 years, Katie started working in the Low-Income Support Team at Uniting Country SA. She is inspired by the great work the financial counsellor's do to become a financial counsellor. Katie’s strength is in providing a holistic approach.

Troy West

Troy is a father of three who takes pride in educating clients and empowering them to develop their knowledge and skills. He is a strong advocate for social justice and has recently delivered financial literacy sessions within a number of local schools.