I love Australia Day. It has become one of my favourite events of the year to celebrate. As the daughter of an immigrant from Eastern Europe, my father taught us from a very young age how lucky we were to live in Australia, and to never take that for granted.
So despite the controversy around change the date, my family celebrates Australia Day and we talk to our children about what an incredibly country we live in, and how we all must contribute to the future greatness of this nation.
It has occurred to me, however, that we are as industry are missing out on a massive opportunity to become part of the national pride of this country. We are, in fact, the biggest industry in the nation. Bigger than farming, and bigger than mining. Yet, that fact remains largely unnoticed in the public eye. Poor publicity and the findings of the Royal Commission also mean not only is our industry uncelebrated – it is also actively mistrusted and disliked.
This is indeed a great shame. Those in the know overseas know that our superannuation system is one of the envies of the globe. This was due to brave politics and a vision for our country and people that extended beyond a four year voting period. It’s a shame we don’t see more of this from our political leaders today.
But we do have this incredible industry full of talented professionals. I firmly believe we as an industry need to act to allow people to see what an asset financial services is to the nation.
This will not be an easy task, nor will it be a short process. But unless we band together and start to tell some true stories of our industry, we will miss important opportunities. I believe there are three ways to tell these stories in a way that will rebuild trust and engagement. It will mean more Australians engaging with our financial system plus the ability to enhance our standing internationally.
- Real life stories. Who are our greatest pioneers? What great Australians have paved the way for this successful industry to grow. To celebrate their achievements helps our industry become part of our national psyche the way celebrated sporting heroes are.
- Documentary style insights. The food and diet industry have been very successful at creating documentary style story telling that has created social change. Think Supersize Me and the expose of the junk food industry. It would not be hard to show what life would be like without our super system and what lies ahead with the lack of retirement savings. Pretty easy to demonstrate essential need.
- Ambassadors that can speak to the general public. Lets face it. We do a lot of inside talk and use acronyms. We need to find the right spokespeople who can talk to the public and create content for the media in each of our key areas (advice, investing , super etc) so that there is a friendly, trust worthy face and communications strategy. Sometimes the smartest people in our industry are not the ones that should be speaking to the broader public.
You may be thinking “Sounds good Vanessa, but who is going to make all this happen?”
Well, rest assured, I am going to make this one of my personal missions over the next few years. And No More Practice Education is well committed to taking the message forward in a variety of ways. If you believe as I do, then please put your hand up too to be part of it. In the words of John Lennon – “you may say I’m a dreamer – but I’m not the only one…”
One Australia Day I would like to see our industry recognised, and celebrated as a big contributor to what makes this country great.
Until next time,
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