A first-of-its-kind financial wellbeing program created specifically for, and with, jobs-focused social enterprises is delivering incredible returns for employees – giving them the confidence and skills to better manage their money.
The three-year program, launched by White Box Enterprises in February 2023 and funded by Ecstra Foundation, aims to equip social enterprises to embed financial wellbeing education into their support models to help employees increase their confidence, skills and behaviours when it comes to money matters.
Early insights reveal the program has been embraced by the social enterprises involved. It is generating tangible outcomes and is proving the value of equipping employees with the tools and knowledge to make good financial decisions.
A great example can be seen in the story of Jacob, a crew member at YMCA ReBuild, who was prompted by the financial wellbeing training to deal with a substantial debt problem he had been ignoring.
Case study: Jacob’s story
After leaving prison, Jacob was faced with the many challenges that come with managing life post-release.
As a partner and dad of two young boys he found himself suddenly dealing with the financial responsibilities of contributing to rent, general household bills and transport costs, as well as sharing childcare expenses for two.
While Jacob gained casual employment as a crew member at YMCA ReBuild, financial pressures weighed heavily. He lacked any extra money for those unplanned costs, such as a visit to the doctor. He was unable to save for unexpected costs or lifestyle opportunities due to debt he had accrued over the past few years. The amount owed felt overwhelming and without knowing how to address the issue, the looming debt affected his anxiety and mental health.
But participating in the financial wellbeing program has been incredibly valuable for Jacob.
During the delivery of the training module about fines and debts, Jacob felt comfortable to share he had some substantial debt he had not yet dealt with. Following a subsequent conversation with his case manager, he was encouraged to take action. That same afternoon Jacob made some calls and requested payment plans to be put in place with both Fines Victoria and the ATO.
Jacob says the program was very helpful.
“It gave me a good insight into overall budgeting and made me more aware of credit and the need to keep up with working on building a good credit score,” he said.
"Due to the program, I have been able to reduce some of my debt and this has eased the pressure.
"Having the confidence to open up and deal with my fines was a win.”
The conversation with Jacob also prompted his case manager to look further into what Fines Victoria could offer beyond extension dates. She found information about a prison program where time served can count towards some fines being waived.
As ReBuild case manager Kim Metzler recalls: “Victoria Fines spoke with me (after Jacob had had to call them to give permission) and were so helpful. They put me through to speak to someone who had a look at the type of fines Jacob had accumulated and asked me some questions about his incarceration dates. This person then said it is likely that almost all of the fines would be waived but encouraged me to submit the online form on behalf of Jacob for their consideration. I did so straight away.
“Two days later Jacob received an email saying all the fines had been waived due to the time he served on remand with the exception of the $200. The amount waived was just over $9,000.
“Not only I am really pleased for Jacob but I was thinking about how many other people we work with who may potentially be eligible for this program on release”.
Kim said it had been a big learning curve for them to ask the young people about fines while they were still working with them in custody.
“Without the program Jacob may just have continued to put this off and not mention any of this debt to us,” she said.
Jacob said he felt “relieved and very happy” about being able to reduce his debt.
He agreed more social enterprises should offer a financial wellbeing program as part of their wrap-around supports.
“It was great that ReBuild was able to offer this program to us as it was very helpful," he said.
It marks the first time a bespoke financial wellbeing program has been created specifically for, and with, jobs-focused social enterprises.
In many cases, the employees involved in the training are earning a wage and managing their money for the first time, making it the perfect complement.
A key distinguisher of the program is that it is co-designed with the social enterprises to enhance the vital wrap-around support these businesses provide.
A Year 1 evaluation produced by CSI Swinburne found the program was immediately helpful for social enterprises in supporting employees faced with challenging situations.
It was effective in delivering programs that were tailored and well-suited to the needs of each enterprise.
Social enterprise staff declared “clarity, readiness and confidence” to deliver the program to their employees, indicating capacity of participating social enterprises for delivering the training.
For the employees themselves, 83% said their knowledge and understanding of multiple money matters had improved, and 83% said their confidence in managing their money well “got a lot better”.
Through interviews and focus groups CSI Swinburne also identified immediate changes in attitudes to money and in taking positive financial decisions following training participation.
Caroline Stewart, CEO of Ecstra, said the evaluation results were showing immediate positive outcomes.
“White Box and their social enterprise partners are offering scalable and replicable financial wellbeing support for new employees right when they need it most,” she said.
“We are confident that White Box’s collaborative approach will mean that even more for purpose businesses and their employees will benefit from this work.”
The program is currently being offered to the social enterprises that are participating in the White Box Payment By Outcomes Trial, with plans to expand this offering to other jobs-focused social enterprises across Australia before the project concludes.