WESTERN NSW farmers have won a temporary reprieve on drought and financial support cuts, but the future of their Rural Financial Counsellors beyond 2017 remains unclear.
As an El Nino looms larger than ever over south east Australia , the Department of Agriculture has announced a shake up of the Rural Financial Counsellor Service (RFCS), which would see 14 service regions rolled into 12.
The Bourke district would be incorporated into the neighbouring Central West service.
The Department has opened tenders to service these areas and is expected to announce them by the end of the year.
When Bourke and Central West districts are combined, current funding for the services would resemble what is currently available to one of the region - at $1.25 million a year, but its geographic spread would cover more than half the state.
Executive officer for the current Central West region Jeff Caldbeck - said the funding cuts would more than halve the number of counsellors to service a massive area of the state where the assistance is needed most.
Mr Caldbeck currently has 17 financial counsellors in his region but the money on offer from the Department would only be enough to fund seven.
Each employee costs about $160,000 a year, including salary, vehicle and related employee expenses.
He is now preparing a bid for his service to operate the RFCS in 2016-17.
His concerns echoed those of Bourke RFCS executive officer Sharon Knight.
Mr Caldbeck said the service is invaluable for getting drought-hit farmers back on their feet.
"We assist people in financial hardship. They can't afford to employ someone like an accountant to help, but we can," he said.
Central West RFCS regularly assists farmers with farm debt mediation, which places high demands on counsellors' time.
"Our counsellor at Broken Hill travelling to Packsaddle may only see four clients in three days due to the distance," he said.
"Also, quite often we are the first point of contact for drought mental health. We constantly help with referrals to mental health teams and other social assistance."
He said the services also assisted farmers to prepare for drought, including loan and funding applications.
"We assist in refinancing, consolidating loans, machinery loans and so on."
In recent years, however, the Central West district hasn't spent its total allocated funds.
This week a spokesman for the Minister for Agriculture said about $700,000 of underspent funds accumulated over the last five years in the Central West District would be made available to the successful tender.
The spokesman would not indicate what time period the funding would be made available for, or if the funding would recur annually.
Mr Caldbeck said the monies had accumulated at a rate of about $50,000 a year largely through unspent salaries when transitioning from financial counsellors.
The Minister's spokesman said Barnaby Joyce supported the service.
Overall, funding for the 12 new RFCS districts had been increased in the proposal for the new proposed 12 regions.
"The Coalition Government has increased core funding for the RFCS program from $13.5m in 2012-13 to $14.5m in 2016-17."
Mike Foley
Senior journalist for The Land.
Senior journalist for The Land.
