BANKING and finance can be confusing enough without language barriers being thrown into the mix.
Inspired by the success of its regular ‘Bring Your Bills’ days, Footscray Community Legal Centre recently ran a ‘Bring Your Bank Accounts’ day at Braybrook Community Centre.
Financial options were explained to residents of the Burmese, Chin and Karen communities (pictured).
Financial counsellors and lawyers were on hand as were groups such as The Smith Family and Good Shepherd.
Financial counsellor Anita Smith said language barriers could be a problem when it came to sorting out financial issues.
Legal centre community outreach manager Cindy Farran said there also appeared to be widespread use of ‘pay day’ loans and lease agreements in refugee communities.
“Many individuals have direct debits causing financial hardship due to the debit either being not essential or the penalty fee incurred from not having sufficient money to satisfy the debit.”
