With cost of living  rising in Australia, there has been a increase of calls to the debt helplines.

The National Debt Hotline and the Small Business Debt Hotline experienced a 17 per cent increase in calls in February 2024 compared to 2023.

Financial Counselling Australia Co-CEO Peter Gartlan told Jamie Burnett on Perth Live, “In WA itself, there was quite an increase in calls. In WA and across the board nationally, Australians are doing it tough and need to ring up and work out what they need to do to resolve the issues.”

“The key [issue] that is coming through is housing, that’s either mortgage stress or rental arrears. Just general cost of living, such as energy bills and sometimes scams as well. For small businesses it’s definitely tax debt, that’s the biggest thing coming through,” Mr Gartlan said.

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Image: Canva