Parliamentary inquiry to shine light on financial abuse

A parliamentary committee has launched an inquiry into the hidden problem of financial abuse in Australia, which has been described as a form of domestic violence that often goes undetected.

The inquiry has been launched by the chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, Senator Deborah O’Neill, and committee member Zaneta Mascarenhas, to help bring the issue into the public consciousness. It will examine the role financial institutions need to play in detecting and preventing financial abuse.

NSW senator Deborah O’Neill will lead the inquiry into financial abuse.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Financial abuse is where a perpetrator seeks to control or sabotage their partner’s financial resources, and experts say the behaviour can be a precursor to domestic or family violence.

“Financial abuse is a form of family and domestic violence. The insidious nature of financial abuse means that it often goes undetected, leaving those who experience it unsupported and the issue itself shielded from public view,” O’Neill said.

“With the shift to online services, we need to investigate how family and domestic violence has shifted there too, and whether our regulatory systems are equipped to adequately deal with it.”

The inquiry is expected to examine the effectiveness of existing laws and how they govern the ability of banks to deal with financial abuse, as well as potential areas for reform.

It will also consider steps that might help the banks to detect financial abuse more effectively.

“After hearing many stories of financial abuse in the community, I wanted to bring this issue to parliament and to national attention,” Mascarenhas said.

“This inquiry will look at just how common financial abuse is and the ability of banks to respond to it.”

The terms of reference of the inquiry have now been made public and the committee is ready to receive submissions between now and June 14.

The inquiry is expected to examine the effectiveness of existing laws and how they govern the ability of banks to deal with financial abuse, as well as potential areas for reform.Credit: iStock

“I invite as many people as possible – those with lived experience and the organisations and banks who are on the frontline – to submit evidence to the inquiry,” Mascarenhas said.

In March last year, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released a personal safety survey that looked at economic abuse as a separate category for the first time. It found that an estimated 16 per cent of Australian women have experienced economic abuse at the hands of a cohabiting partner.

The survey found economic abuse is experienced at similar levels to physical partner violence for women, and is slightly more prevalent than physical violence for male victims.

And the banks have already taken notice.

In November last year, NAB introduced “unacceptable account conduct” to the conditions on its savings and transaction accounts, which gives it the green light to cut customers off if they are found to be perpetrating financial abuse.

Concerns about financial abuse remain one of the top reasons customers get in touch with its customer support team, NAB head of customer vulnerability Michael Chambers said at the time.

“Financial abuse can take many forms, including where an individual is denied access to their own funds [or] has their funds misused by another individual. This form of control can occur between couples, family members or relationships where one person is providing care for another,” he says.

Last year’s annual report from the NSW Ageing and Disability Commission also reported on the emerging phenomenon of “inheritance impatience” driving financial abuse, including exploitation, misused power of attorney and theft.

Read more:

• Alannah had 24¢ in the bank. It was enough to trigger a violent rage
• ‘Absolutely staggering’: CBA says more than 600,000 suffer financial abuse

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