Continuing support for you and your rural business

Updated: 18/05/2020

Rural Business Support (RBS) is continuing to work closely from a distance with our farming and small business clients during these very different days that we are now living through together.

Our financial counsellors are holding just as many appointments as they were before the restrictions were introduced – they are just happening via video link and telephone instead of face to face.

While there has been a partial easing of restrictions in South Australia and the Northern Territory from May 11, our preference is for meetings to continue to be held by video or phone for now.  Face to face appointments are now an option for clients living in remote locations provided social distancing and hygiene advice is followed. As per the current SA Health guidelines, meetings held in an enclosed area must not exceed two hours.

We will reassess this position when the hoped further easing of restrictions from June 8 is enacted by the South Australian Government.

In the interests of looking after clients and our team, staff have been encouraged to download the COVIDSafe app.

Despite the challenges of the past two months, there have been some lighter moments to come from the forced changes to our way of conducting our business. 

Many of our financial counsellors have been helping clients to learn how to use video conferencing technology for the first time. Below is a response that one of our rural financial counsellors received from a couple of particularly happy customers…

“During the COVID-19 restrictions, our rural financial counsellor walked us through how to join up with her in a video conference so that we could continue our face to face appointments. We couldn’t believe it when her face popped up on our computer screen! We were so excited that, with her help, we had been able to achieve this! Turns out you can teach old dogs new tricks!

“Having an appointment through videoconferencing was like having access to another world. It was fantastic to be able to share and see each other’s computer screens and explain information this way. Bloody unreal! We now hope to use this method of communication with family and friends based overseas.”

At a time when our team has been tested in many ways, receiving comments like this make it all worthwhile.

If you’re new to video conferencing, know your way around a computer, have a web cam and reliable internet coverage, your financial counsellor will be able to email you a link to click on to make your next meeting happen. But if you don’t, it’s okay. Talking over the phone or using Face Time are just as workable.

If you need to talk to a financial counsellor, please call our freecall number on 1800 836 211.