'Struggling more than ever': Debt reaches six-year high
The National Debt Helpline had more than 168,000 people reach out during the 2024-25 financial year.
It marks a record high with the most calls and chat messages since 2018-19.
"It's really telling us that people are struggling more than ever," helpline co-ordinator Vicki Staff told AAP.
The key issues weighing on Australians are housing stress, including mortgages, rent rates and strata or body corporate costs.
Utilities including electricity, gas and water costs are among the other concerns as well as problematic credit card debt, personal loans and owing the Australian Taxation Office.
Each state and territory can have a different order of the most prominent financial stress.
"You might find that in one state, utilities are actually coming through as the number one presenting issue, and then maybe housing number two," Ms Staff said.
The current financial issues are different to those experienced in 2018-19 when rental stress, strata and body corporate costs were not reported as key pressures.
Personal loans were also not a predominant issue in 2018-19. Instead, Buy Now Pay Later schemes were weighing on Australians.
When Australians call the debt helpline, it is when they believe they have exhausted all their options to solve their financial woes.
"People have really done their best ... to cope with this cost of living crisis, but eventually they get to a point where they can't think of what else to do," Ms Staff said.
"It seems pretty insurmountable. They're usually in a highly stressed state."
But the debt crisis shows no sign of slowing, with 15,000 people already seeking support in July for the new financial year.
There is hope the Reserve Bank of Australia will lower interest rates - currently at 3.85 per cent - later in 2025, which would ease some pressure on households.
The central bank looks set to shave 25 basis points off the cash rate when it meets next week.
The National Debt Helpline offers financial counselling and self help guides to help provide options to overcome difficult financial situations.
A record number of Australians experiencing "very distressed" financial situations have reached out for debt support, and the pressures are showing no signs of abating.
The National Debt Helpline had more than 168,000 people reach out during the 2024-25 financial year.
It marks a record high with the most calls and chat messages since 2018-19.
"It's really telling us that people are struggling more than ever," helpline co-ordinator Vicki Staff told AAP.
The key issues weighing on Australians are housing stress, including mortgages, rent rates and strata or body corporate costs.
Utilities including electricity, gas and water costs are among the other concerns as well as problematic credit card debt, personal loans and owing the Australian Taxation Office.
Each state and territory can have a different order of the most prominent financial stress.
"You might find that in one state, utilities are actually coming through as the number one presenting issue, and then maybe housing number two," Ms Staff said.
The current financial issues are different to those experienced in 2018-19 when rental stress, strata and body corporate costs were not reported as key pressures.
Personal loans were also not a predominant issue in 2018-19. Instead, Buy Now Pay Later schemes were weighing on Australians.
When Australians call the debt helpline, it is when they believe they have exhausted all their options to solve their financial woes.
"People have really done their best ... to cope with this cost of living crisis, but eventually they get to a point where they can't think of what else to do," Ms Staff said.
"It seems pretty insurmountable. They're usually in a highly stressed state."
But the debt crisis shows no sign of slowing, with 15,000 people already seeking support in July for the new financial year.
There is hope the Reserve Bank of Australia will lower interest rates - currently at 3.85 per cent - later in 2025, which would ease some pressure on households.
The central bank looks set to shave 25 basis points off the cash rate when it meets next week.
The National Debt Helpline offers financial counselling and self help guides to help provide options to overcome difficult financial situations.
A record number of Australians experiencing "very distressed" financial situations have reached out for debt support, and the pressures are showing no signs of abating.
The National Debt Helpline had more than 168,000 people reach out during the 2024-25 financial year.
It marks a record high with the most calls and chat messages since 2018-19.
"It's really telling us that people are struggling more than ever," helpline co-ordinator Vicki Staff told AAP.
The key issues weighing on Australians are housing stress, including mortgages, rent rates and strata or body corporate costs.
Utilities including electricity, gas and water costs are among the other concerns as well as problematic credit card debt, personal loans and owing the Australian Taxation Office.
Each state and territory can have a different order of the most prominent financial stress.
"You might find that in one state, utilities are actually coming through as the number one presenting issue, and then maybe housing number two," Ms Staff said.
The current financial issues are different to those experienced in 2018-19 when rental stress, strata and body corporate costs were not reported as key pressures.
Personal loans were also not a predominant issue in 2018-19. Instead, Buy Now Pay Later schemes were weighing on Australians.
When Australians call the debt helpline, it is when they believe they have exhausted all their options to solve their financial woes.
"People have really done their best ... to cope with this cost of living crisis, but eventually they get to a point where they can't think of what else to do," Ms Staff said.
"It seems pretty insurmountable. They're usually in a highly stressed state."
But the debt crisis shows no sign of slowing, with 15,000 people already seeking support in July for the new financial year.
There is hope the Reserve Bank of Australia will lower interest rates - currently at 3.85 per cent - later in 2025, which would ease some pressure on households.
The central bank looks set to shave 25 basis points off the cash rate when it meets next week.
The National Debt Helpline offers financial counselling and self help guides to help provide options to overcome difficult financial situations.
A record number of Australians experiencing "very distressed" financial situations have reached out for debt support, and the pressures are showing no signs of abating.
The National Debt Helpline had more than 168,000 people reach out during the 2024-25 financial year.
It marks a record high with the most calls and chat messages since 2018-19.
"It's really telling us that people are struggling more than ever," helpline co-ordinator Vicki Staff told AAP.
The key issues weighing on Australians are housing stress, including mortgages, rent rates and strata or body corporate costs.
Utilities including electricity, gas and water costs are among the other concerns as well as problematic credit card debt, personal loans and owing the Australian Taxation Office.
Each state and territory can have a different order of the most prominent financial stress.
"You might find that in one state, utilities are actually coming through as the number one presenting issue, and then maybe housing number two," Ms Staff said.
The current financial issues are different to those experienced in 2018-19 when rental stress, strata and body corporate costs were not reported as key pressures.
Personal loans were also not a predominant issue in 2018-19. Instead, Buy Now Pay Later schemes were weighing on Australians.
When Australians call the debt helpline, it is when they believe they have exhausted all their options to solve their financial woes.
"People have really done their best ... to cope with this cost of living crisis, but eventually they get to a point where they can't think of what else to do," Ms Staff said.
"It seems pretty insurmountable. They're usually in a highly stressed state."
But the debt crisis shows no sign of slowing, with 15,000 people already seeking support in July for the new financial year.
There is hope the Reserve Bank of Australia will lower interest rates - currently at 3.85 per cent - later in 2025, which would ease some pressure on households.
The central bank looks set to shave 25 basis points off the cash rate when it meets next week.
The National Debt Helpline offers financial counselling and self help guides to help provide options to overcome difficult financial situations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
7NEWS
3 minutes ago
- 7NEWS
Privacy commissioner sues Optus over data breach
Optus seriously interfered with the privacy of about 9.5 million Australians in failing to protect their data, and could face hefty fines for each breach in new court action. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has filed Federal Court proceedings against the telco for the September 2022 cyber attack, which resulted customers' private data - including home addresses, birth dates, phone numbers and email addresses - finding its way to the dark web. Optus failed to take reasonable steps to protect users' data, breaching the telco's obligations under the Privacy Act, chief commissioner Elizabeth Tydd said. 'Organisations hold personal information within legal requirements and based upon trust,' she said. 'The Australian community should have confidence that organisations will act accordingly, and if they don't the OAIC as regulator will act to secure those rights.' The action comes after the organisation's investigation following the attack. Optus said it would review and consider the matters raised in the proceedings and would respond to the OAIC's claims in due course. 'Optus apologises again to our customers and the broader community that the 2022 cyber-attack occurred,' a spokesman said in a statement. 'We strive every day to protect our customers' information and have been working hard to minimise any impact the cyber attack may have had.' The Federal Court can impose a civil penalty of up to $2.22 million for each contravention of the Act, and the OAIC is alleging one breach for each of the approximately 9.5 million individuals impacted. Imposing the maximum penalty for all victims would be impossible, since Optus' Singapore-listed owner Singtel has a total market value of about $101.5 billion. The breach highlighted some of the risks associated with external-facing websites, particularly when they interacted with internal databases holding personal information, Australian Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind said. 'All organisations holding personal information need to ensure they have strong data governance and security practices,' she said. 'These need to be both thorough and embedded, to guard against vulnerabilities that threat actors will be ready to exploit.'
Perth Now
33 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Privacy commissioner sues Optus over data breach
Optus seriously interfered with the privacy of about 9.5 million Australians in failing to protect their data, and could face hefty fines for each breach in new court action. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has filed Federal Court proceedings against the telco for the September 2022 cyber attack, which resulted customers' private data - including home addresses, birth dates, phone numbers and email addresses - finding its way to the dark web. Optus failed to take reasonable steps to protect users' data, breaching the telco's obligations under the Privacy Act, chief commissioner Elizabeth Tydd said. "Organisations hold personal information within legal requirements and based upon trust," she said. "The Australian community should have confidence that organisations will act accordingly, and if they don't the OAIC as regulator will act to secure those rights." The action comes after the organisation's investigation following the attack. Optus said it would review and consider the matters raised in the proceedings and would respond to the OAIC's claims in due course. "Optus apologises again to our customers and the broader community that the 2022 cyber-attack occurred," a spokesman said in a statement. "We strive every day to protect our customers' information and have been working hard to minimise any impact the cyber attack may have had." The Federal Court can impose a civil penalty of up to $2.22 million for each contravention of the Act, and the OAIC is alleging one breach for each of the approximately 9.5 million individuals impacted. Imposing the maximum penalty for all victims would be impossible, since Optus' Singapore-listed owner Singtel has a total market value of about $101.5 billion. The breach highlighted some of the risks associated with external-facing websites, particularly when they interacted with internal databases holding personal information, Australian Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind said. "All organisations holding personal information need to ensure they have strong data governance and security practices," she said. "These need to be both thorough and embedded, to guard against vulnerabilities that threat actors will be ready to exploit."
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Optus sued over 2022 data breach that exposed data of 9.5m people
Optus is being sued for allegedly failing to protect the data of 9.5 million people. The Australian Information Commissioner announced on Friday it was launching the legal action. The case stems from a data breach in September 2022. The Information Commissioner will argue Optus failed to adequately manage cybersecurity and information security risk. 'Organisations hold personal information within legal requirements and based upon trust,' commissioner Elizabeth Tydd said. 'The Australian community should have confidence that organisations will act accordingly, and if they don't, the OAIC as regulator will act to secure those rights.' An Optus spokesperson said the company would 'consider the matters raised in the proceedings and will respond to the claims made by the AIC in due course'. 'Optus apologises again to our customers and the broader community that the 2022 cyber attack occurred,' the spokesperson said. 'We strive every day to protect our customers' information and have been working hard to minimise any impact the cyber attack may have had.' Optus would keep investing in security, the spokesperson said, and the cyber threat environment was evolving. 'As the matter is now before the Australian courts, Optus will not be commenting further at this time,' they said. Australian Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind said strong data governance and security needed to be embedded in organisations. 'To guard against vulnerabilities that threat actors will be ready to exploit,' Ms Kind said. The lawsuit alleges that from on, or around October 17, 2019 to September 20, 2022, Optus seriously interfered with the privacy of about 9.5 million Australians by failing to take reasonable steps to protect their personal information from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. The case is being pursued as an alleged breach of the Privacy Act 1988. The Information Commission alleges Optus failed to adequately manage cybersecurity and information security risk in a manner commensurate with the nature and volume of personal information that Optus held, the company's size and its risk profile. In September 2022 a cybercriminal stole personal information of 9.5 million current and former Optus customers. The data included names, birthdays, phone numbers, passport numbers, email addresses, driver's licence numbers, government identifiers, Medicare numbers, birth certificate information, marriage certificate information, and military and police identification information. The Federal Court can fine a company $2.22m for each contravention of the type in this lawsuit. The Australian Information Commissioner is alleging each of the 9.5 million customers should be treated as an individual contravention. Optus is wholly owned by Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel), which in turn is majority-owned by the investment arm of the Singapore government. Originally published as Optus sued over 2022 data breach that exposed data of 9.5m people
