FCA announces departure of CEO and new appointments

After nearly 15 years in the role, Fiona Guthrie is stepping down as CEO of Financial Counselling Australia (FCA), the FCA board has announced.

Fiona is leaving FCA to take up a new position as the CEO of Way Forward, a not-for-profit organisation that provides free assistance to people in financial hardship.

The chair of FCA, Anne Crouch thanked Fiona for her significant contribution to FCA.

“Fiona joined the organisation as its first employee in August 2009, and under her guidance both FCA and the financial counselling sector have gone from strength to strength.”

“It has been an absolute privilege to work at FCA and to work with financial counsellors,” Ms Guthrie said. “The work we do makes such a difference to people’s lives and has got me out of bed every morning.”

The board has appointed Dr Domenique Meyrick and Peter Gartlan as the joint CEOs.

Domenique has been with FCA since 2017 and is Director of Development. She has represented FCA in many external forums and most recently directed the FCA’s annual conferences. She led a number of key initiatives during the pandemic to address workforce issues, including the intern project and the development of an online simulated placement (Steps).

Peter has been working with FCA since 2020, leading the financial counselling sector’s response to disasters. He has been part of the sector for many years, including time as the Executive Officer at Financial Counselling Victoria.

Both Domenique and Peter are well known to the financial counselling sector and to many external stakeholders. Domenique and Peter will commence as Co-CEO on 19th February 2024.

Way Forward is a service which puts in place payment arrangements to help people get out of debt faster. Fiona starts in the new role on 19th February 2024.

“I am also looking forward to working with Way Forward, an organisation that I helped set up five years ago. The role of Way Forward and financial counsellors is complementary, so it means I will still have links to the financial counselling sector.” Fiona will continue to work on a contract basis for FCA until the end of June 2024. This is to help finalise the industry funding model for financial counselling, which was announced by the Minster for Social Services in November 2023.

Media: Fiona Guthrie, 0402 426 835 [email protected]