A Western Australian company founded four years ago to help fly-in, fly-out workers manage their finances has shifted its focus to reflect the resources sector’s changing fortunes – dealing with redundancy issues.
A Western Australian company founded four years ago to help fly-in, fly-out workers manage their finances has shifted its focus to reflect the resources sector’s changing fortunes – dealing with redundancy issues.
Acorn Life Path principal Ruth Murdoch has been asked to present at the state parliamentary inquiry into mental health impacts of FIFO work arrangements, and speak to CBI-Kentz joint venture workers whose construction roles at Chevron’s Gorgon project are winding up.
Mrs Murdoch told Business News many FIFO workers joined the industry either to pay off existing debts or set themselves up financially, but their large pay cheques did not necessarily lead to financial wealth or security.
“It’s not just FIFO, it’s across the board, because we really aren’t taught much about money and finances when we’re at school,” Mrs Murdoch said.
“We help people to understand their debt, pay down debt smartly and how to have an alignment between their values and their goals.
“On some sites, unfortunately, there’s competition about what did you do or buy, it gets people into a trap, trying to keep up with the Joneses.
“If you’ve got a goal of paying down debt, but your values are buying the latest new car or going to Bali every swing, then you’re really not achieving the goals that you’ve set yourself.
“With clients who we know are going to be made redundant, we adjust the education to suit their personal circumstances.
“We make sure they learn the skills about negotiating with creditors, how they can make sure that their money can last; and we teach people how to identify leakage in their money and then how to fill those holes.”
Mrs Murdoch, who is a financial educator, not a financial adviser, said she helped FIFO workers and their partners plan their futures and adjust their mindsets.
While Acorn Life Path offers shorter programs, most clients opted for the 12-month package, she said, because that’s how long it took to instill new spending and saving habits.
“It takes a long time for people to get into financial difficulty and have debts piling up, you’re really not going to make a big difference with somebody if you only work with them for a month because the key thing is around the mindset,” Mrs Murdoch said.
A 2015 Telstra Business of the Year award nominee, Mrs Murdoch said she had been lobbying for FIFO companies to include financial education as part of induction programs.
She said not knowing how to manage money was also related to mental health issues.
Clients, including those who had accumulated more than $100,000 in consumer debt, frequently spoke to her about how it had affected their anxiety and depression, she said.
“When I speak to people about their debt many say it’s affecting their relationship and their mental health,” she said.
