CENTRALISING a diminished workforce of rural financial counsellors could take a physical and mental toll on farmer clients, suggests Bogan Shire mayor Ray Donald.
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He is advocating for "accessibility" following advice that federal government reform will increase the size of the Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS) NSW Central West region to more than 50 per cent of the state while slashing its funding and counsellor numbers.
From April 1 it will be known as the NSW Central region with a net annual budget of $1.1 million, down from $2.027 million since 2011.
RFCS "core funding" pays the wages of almost 16 full-time equivalent counsellors currently working in the communities that will make up the new NSW Central region.
Under the reform the number of counsellors is expected to fall to 6.8 full-time equivalent positions, given the accepted annual base cost of keeping a counsellor in the field is $160,000.
The board of the RFCS NSW Central West is deciding which of its offices will close as the October 16 deadline looms for applications for a deed of grant to run the service in the three years to 2019.
RFCS NSW Central West chief executive officer, Dubbo-based Jeff Caldbeck, said the result of the application would not be known until the "week of Christmas".
Cr Donald said the "tendering process" could capture other organisations that if successful might drag every counsellor out of the region to a central workplace at a city like Dubbo, forcing farmers in far-flung locations to travel to and from appointments with them.
He said mental health problems in the bush sprang from "a lack of adequate assistance to people in times of drought and other natural disasters" as well as a "lack of understanding of the type of assistance needed".
The mayor said centralising of counsellors could deter farmers from seeking help in undertaking the "arduous and lengthy" process of applying for loans and create a divide between clients and counsellors.
"They could be creating a situation where the mental health aspect perhaps increases through lack of understanding and accessible assistance," Cr Donald said.
The mayor said the RFCS funding cuts would have a "minuscule" impact on the government's budget.
"Yet they have such a major effect on clients who are spread out and desperately need the understanding and assistance to continue their occupancy," he said.