Financial counselling is an identified key component of support needed to reduce risks and improve the resilience of communities experiencing natural hazards. This framework informs the financial counselling sector and the broader community on the role of financial counselling in disaster preparedness, response and recovery across Western Australia. 

The framework is a dynamic mechanism that guides the sector on the activities it can perform to better prepare communities for natural hazards and when they strike, it can ensure a more effective response to assist communities to recover and ‘bounce forward’. The framework is also intended to be shared with different organisations to improve their understanding of the support that the financial counselling sector can provide in disaster management.

The framework provides general guidance for agency managers offering financial counselling services, and financial counsellors and capability workers within their organisations. It outlines activities that can be undertaken with the broader community and with clients to help them become better prepared for, and respond to, disasters. 

The framework is not exhaustive nor prescriptive, instead it should be used to guide the development of a tailored framework that considers local risks and vulnerabilities, resources, organisational capacity and capability. It addresses disasters relating to natural hazards, such as bushfires, floods, cyclones, storms, heatwaves and earthquakes.