Financial abuse is one of the subtler forms of manipulation and control in a relationship. It is sometimes difficult to define for the victim, who may feel that the abuser’s withholding of money, insistence on having bank accounts in the abuser’s name only, and their doling out of small payments for household items – weekly food, bill payments, medical funds and discretionary spending that don’t or barely cover expenses etc – is somehow justified. The abusive partner may tell the victim it’s for their own good because they don’t know how to budget or can’t handle larger sums of money.
However, the main cause of financial abuse is usually so that the victim has little independence; they remain bound to the abuser due to lack of finances independent to the partner’s and lack of their own bank accounts and funds should they leave the relationship. By having control of the finance, the abuser has increased control over their victim. That person can be completely immobilised into remaining in an abusive relationship, thinking as the abuser has taught them to think; that they couldn’t survive alone in the “real” world and need the abuser to care for them.
When or if a victim does leave their abuser for good, they quite often leave having been financially abused for an extended period, and often leave with no funds to cover the essentials of survival such as housing, Centrelink payments, legal support, costs involved in finding employment etc.
The negative impacts of financial abuse are doubly felt when a victim leaves with their dependent children.
Basic survival after leaving is more distressing for a victim when they have little or no finances to cover even the most basic of needs.
In my case the costs of leaving (aside from the trauma and emotional toll) included appealing for Legal Aid for extended litigation (brought on by my abuser taking me back to Family Court for six years after leaving him, simply because he had the financial means to pay legal representatives, indefinitely). I had to firstly pay Legal Aid back once property settlement concluded, then pay privately for a legal representative as the abuser continued litigation with no compunction to stop. Eventually I ran out of money designated for legal fees and had to self-litigate in court. Representing myself had disastrous consequences.
As mentioned in my essay Issues with Centrelink and family violence victims, I left the abuser with $180 in my purse for myself and three dependent children. Without financial support from family, we would have been homeless. Many leaving, do not have that type of support available to them.
Centrelink, along with the police, are two of the frontline services that a victim approaches, as they seek to restore safety in their lives and financial support after leaving. Therefore, it is vital that such services move with the crisis of increasing numbers of family violence victims wanting to access immediate help, by providing practical support that is timely and easily available. This should include payments on a case-by-case basis rather than applying standardised regulations to every case regardless of whether that person is in crisis or not. A simple forensic investigation into every applicant’s financial and accommodation circumstances would surely provide enough information to credit or discount an applicant’s account of their immediate situation and fast-track access to crucial payments.
If property settlement is part of the equation after leaving, then settlement needs to be streamlined with the victim’s legal team able to fast track the procedures necessary to the acquisition of family assets so that the victim can avoid the prolonged, and often adversarial legal rebuttals from the abuser and his/her legal representative. Current property settlements in domestic violence situations are, in most cases, a further cause of trauma for a victim as their abuser finds ways to stall financial settlement and prolong the time between the initial application for settlement procedure and the conclusion of asset division.
My abuser’s financial abuse was more acute around my time of leaving, and directly after. He ransacked our home and stole all the money I’d saved and hidden once the decision to leave was uppermost in mind. Then as soon as I left he cleaned out our joint bank account (I’d always thought that having a joint account meant both signatories had to be obtained before transactions could proceed – not so!) and froze our business accounts so that only he had access to those. In doing so he left my three children and I penniless until “crisis payments” from Centrelink were eventually approved weeks after leaving.
It took years after leaving and substantial legal fees before property settlement was resolved. Throughout the process, he offered me a pittance to fast track resolution. Every asset was undervalued so that in the end settlement was not nearly what it should have been had I been dealing with someone not resorting to financial abuse for their own ends.
I have gone into detail regarding my personal experiences of financial abuse hoping that readers will recognise some of the pitfalls of this form of abuse and take measures to prevent or mitigate the impact of similar abuse to themselves.
How victims with a lack of funding can be supported
The Australian Government has introduced several financial innovations to support victims of domestic violence after leaving abusive relationships. These initiatives aim to provide financial assistance, prevention, early intervention, response and recovery services to help victims rebuild their lives and ensure their safety.
Under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032, the government has allocated $1.3 billion over five years to drive positive change and address the four pillars of the plan: prevention, early intervention, response, and recovery.
On prevention, the government committed $104.4 million over five years to support Our Watch, a national leader in primary prevention of violence against women and children.
On early intervention, the allocated $46 million over four years to continue the award-winning national primary prevention campaign, Stop it at the Start, which aims to break the cycle of violence by encouraging adults to reflect on their own attitudes and have conversations about respect with young people aged 10 to 17 years.
On recovery, the government committed additional funding to provide financial support for victim-survivors of family, domestic, and sexual violence. This funding enables the Emergency Payment for Victims (EVP) program to continue for a further three years, supporting approximately 12,500 victim-survivors each year.
These financial innovations are part of the government’s ongoing commitment to ending violence against women and children and ensuring the safety and well-being of all Australians.
Specifically related to victims of domestic and family violence are newly formed supports that have been designed to help ease the traumatic burden a victim carries if they have insufficient financial means to survive when leaving an abuser.
These include the payment of $5,000 for victims fleeing abusive relationships. This one-off payment is not means-tested and aims to provide immediate financial assistance to victims in need.
The Escaping Violence Payment will build on and complement existing programs offered by state and territories, as well as Australian Government support offered to women experiencing violence, including Services Australia’s Crisis Payment for Extreme Circumstances of Family and Domestic Violence; the No Interest Loan Scheme for Women Experiencing Domestic Violence; emergency relief; keeping women safe in their homes.
On behalf of Services Australia, Centrelink delivers government payments and services that support people affected by family and domestic violence. Payments include an income support payment (a regular payment that helps with living costs), a one-off crisis payment for those who have experienced an extreme circumstance and are in severe financial hardship, an advance payment giving access to part of your income support payment or family tax benefit.
Centrelink also provides social work services. They offer free, private counselling and support and can refer to other services that may help such as family and domestic violence services and financial help.
The big four banks have updated their banking processes to better accommodate victims fleeing violence by: providing simple document request processes to victims regarding the opening new bank accounts (including using alternative identification documents for victims of domestic violence who have no access to relevant documents). Financial Advice | Family Relationships Online is a site that covers a range of places for victims fleeing violence to seek financial advice. People whose relationship has recently ended can benefit from guidance and information about managing money.
There are a range of government-funded services that can assist people with financial issues after separation. Information and referral to these services is available through the Family Relationship Advice Line on 1800 050 321.
More generally
A checklist from Lifeline 131114 web__ll-4pp-tool-kit_domestic-family-violence-dfv.pdf (lifeline.org.au) If you decide to leave, leaving an abusive relationship often increases the level of violence. The time leading up to and following the separation may be the most dangerous. It is important to have a safety plan that you have talked through with a trusted family member, friend or support worker. If you are not escaping from immediate danger and you have time, you could pack an emergency bag of things to take with you.
Things to take with you should include emergency numbers – 000 (national emergency number), local domestic violence crisis services, and friends and family; a bag of clothing and toiletries; a few of the children’s toys and blankets; bank account details; Medicare number; passport; immigration papers; driver’s licence; tax file number; children’s records; marriage certificate; birth certificates; your address book. Other important items include medication, prescriptions, car and house keys, credit cards and cash.
You can arrange for the police to be there on standby when you leave to ensure your safety or to return to the house with you to collect your possessions later.
You may sometimes have the legal option to stay in your home and take action against your partner, so they are removed and ordered not to return.
You may also be able to access a Centrelink crisis payment to help you with immediate financial difficulties; financial compensation from Victims of Crime; free counselling through Victims of Crime or another community-based organisation; emergency accommodation; increased security measures at home. Each state and territory has different processes, so it is important to get professional advice. Free legal services are available from community legal centres and other organisations.
Deborah Thomson moved to Tasmania with her daughter in 2010, and now lives with her partner of nine years and a parrot. She moved to escape domestic violence and, inspired by her new partner, wrote her first book, Whose Life Is It Anyway? Recognising and Surviving Domestic Violence, to help others recognise abuse (and in particular coercive control), in the home, and to increase their motivation to leave earlier. After publishing her first book, she became a trained advocate through Engender Equality, a non-government Tasmanian organisation working with people and communities impacted by family violence. Deborah Thomson advocates for survivors of family violence, speaking at domestic violence events across Tasmania, through media channels and podcasts. She recently completed a second book, detailing lived experience with domestic violence by her then husband, spanning 17 years from 1985 to 2003. This book is now used in Tasmania as an information resource for family violence counsellors and students on practicals.
