SA-made website amica-one uses AI to help women calculate their assets and escape violent, financially-abusive relationships

Individuals who fear poverty if they leave abusive relationships have a new ally – an SA-made program powered by artificial intelligence, that can help them plan their financial escape.

Individuals trapped in broken relationships for fear of poverty, or who are suffering financial domestic abuse, have a new place to turn for help – powered by artificial intelligence.

The $3m Adelaide-made website amica, originally developed to help couples separate and divide their assets amicably, has received a 2023 upgrade to help those in crisis.

It now allows people to obtain an estimate of the money and property they would receive in a divorce while remaining totally anonymous, without involving their partner and at no cost.

Legal Services Commission and amica project chief executive Gabrielle Canny said the upgrade could help domestic violence survivors move on from their abusers.

Legal Services Commission and amica project chief executive Gabrielle Canny.

“In 2022, 50,575 divorces were granted in Australia, but many more people remain in broken-down relationships in fear of the financial implications a separation will cause,” she said.

“This upgrade, called amica-one, is a game-changer for people considering separating, particularly women experiencing domestic violence.

“It empowers them to know where they stand and what a division of money and property might look like, without involving their partner.”

Anti-domestic violence campaigner Arman Abrahimzadeh – whose mother was murdered by her emotionally, physically and financiall abusive husband – welcomed the upgrade, saying economic abuse was among the most under-reported forms of intimate partner abuse.

“Within the sector, it’s well-known that reliance on an abusive partner’s income is the second-most common reason women cannot leave an abusive relationship,” he said.

“The first is personal safety – for the woman and for their children – but that financial dependence is the second contributor.

“Anything more that can be done to offset that is, I think, fantastic.”

Arman Abrahimzadeh, left, in 2004 with his mother Zahra – who was later murdered by her emotionally, physically and financially abusive husband.

Both amica, for use by couples, and amica-one, for anonymous use by one person, are built on an AI that learns from past court judgments and settlements.

The AI considers a former couple’s assets and circumstances and compares them with agreements reached by other couples and how courts generally handle similar cases.

Couples who use amica are provided with a suggested course for dividing their assets, meaning they can end their relationship without having to step into a courtroom.

To date, more than 10,000 couples have used amica to help finalise their divorces.

Ms Canny said amica-one considered the length of a couple’s relationship, their age and health needs, and their earnings and contributions to the relationship to provide an estimate.

“It’s a completely free service, and no personal identifiable information is required to generate a suggested division of money and property,” she said.

To access the AI, visit one.amica.gov.au.

Originally published as SA-made website amica-one uses AI to help women calculate their assets and escape violent, financially-abusive relationships