Big businesses in Australia are joining forces to combat the “hidden epidemic” of financial abuse in Australia in a world-first initiative.
Today, 21 companies – including Optus, Suncorp, IAG and UNSW – have pledged to stand against domestic and family violence perpetrators through a new national initiative, respectandprotect.
Launched by social enterprise Flequity Ventures, respectandprotect encourages other businesses to follow the lead of the 21 businesses who are the “first movers” in fighting financial abuse through the program.
Catherine Fitzpatrick, the founder of Flequity Ventures and the woman behind respectandprotect, said businesses in Australia have an opportunity to “provide better protection for victim-survivors” of financial and economic abuse, a “hidden epidemic” in this country.
“Victim-survivors have told us that perpetrators misuse products and services for financial abuse,” Fitzpatrick told Women’s Agenda.
“So it’s really important that every business in Australia says they don’t want to be part of the problem, and that they won’t stand by and let their products be misused for harm.”
What is financial abuse?
Mia* was a new business owner and a new mum when she escaped an abusive relationship with the father of her nine-month-old daughter.
Over 12 years, Mia’s ex-partner financially abused her until she was left with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt under her name that she had no part of.
Mia’s ex-partner stole her credit card information and racked up more than $10,000 in credit card debt, on top of thousands of dollars on property rental debt that was accrued without her knowledge or consent.
He even got a hold of her airline’s frequent flyer details and used her points to buy flights – including a seat next to Mia on a flight to Melbourne, where he intimidated and threatened her.
“I remember a flight from Sydney to Melbourne. He booked a seat next to me,” Mia said.
“He broke into my Qantas Frequent Flyer account to find my flight and seat number. ‘I will never stop taking you to court until you’re left with nothing,’ he said.
“I was visibly distressed, and the air hostess moved me further up front. But it shook me, feeling like every way I turned he was there to block me somehow.”
At the time, around 15 years ago, there were no safeguards for victim-survivors in place with the services he used to financially abuse Mia. By the end of it all, she was left with a debt of almost half a million dollars that was her responsibility to deal with.
“When you don’t know someone as well as you believe you do, there are certain things that you miss because you trust them – and then one day you wake up and you realise that that person is not the person who you thought they were,” Mia said.
“It was incredibly traumatic, but I survived it.”
According to the Australian government’s financial service moneysmart, financial abuse is a type of violence where a perpetrator controls a victim’s access to money or financial decisions, or uses their money without their knowledge or consent.
Around 2.4 million Australians have been financially abused, with about one in six women and one in 13 men having suffered from financial abuse. In 2020, financial abuse cost victims up to $5.7 billion and cost the broader economy around $5.2 billion, according to data from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
How do businesses enable it?
Catherine Fitzpatrick from Flequity Ventures said any business that offers “joint accounts” or services online is “ripe for financial abuse”.
“In banking, they (the perpetrator) might open a credit card in a victim-survivor’s name without her knowledge or consent, and then rack up debt in her name,” Fitzpatrick said.
“With insurance, they might change or cancel a policy without her knowledge or consent, leaving her uninsured.
“In telecommunications, they may use the bundling of services like the Internet and mobile phone to then monitor and track what their victim survivor is doing.”
What should businesses do?
When Mia was financially abused, she felt it was up to her to pull herself out of what was truly a dire situation. Now, she believes businesses have a responsibility to help victim-survivors of financial abuse.
One way Mia suggests businesses can better support victim-survivors is to establish and train financial wellness teams to safeguard the wellbeing of customers, particularly if they are at risk of financial abuse.
“If a man is out to target a woman and drain her financially, there needs to be better financial wellness teams in place so that when they call, they actually know they’re getting the help they need,” Mia said.
The prevalence of financial abuse in Australia is why Flequity Ventures launched the respectandprotect initiative, a world-first program that helps businesses stop perpetrators from misusing their products and services to do financial harm to others.
The crucial way businesses can take action is to update their terms and conditions with clauses that create consequences for customers should they be found to be perpetrating abuse.
“Each business has done it slightly differently, but essentially they are saying financial abuse is unacceptable customer behaviour, and if you misuse their products and services, they’ll take action,” Fitzpatrick said.
“That could include sending a warning, suspending access or even closing accounts.”
For example, Fitzpatrick said some banks took action on customers that were sending abusive and threatening messages in pay descriptions: they wrote to these customers warning them they could see what they were doing and they must stop.
When they sent that warning, according to Fitzpatrick, more than 90 per cent stopped sending such abusive messages.
“It’s a bit like when all airlines said after September 11: ‘you can’t joke about terrorism and expect to get on our planes.’ It’s the same kind of approach: you can’t misuse our products and services to cause serious harm and financial decimation in the context of domestic violence and expect to get away with it,” Fitzpatrick said.
How can businesses take action?
Today, the respectandprotect initiative launches, and businesses who are interested in the initiative can read what the 21 “first movers” have done already to better protect customers from financial abuse.
“No business wants to be a safe haven for abusers,” Fitzpatrick said.
“So it’s really important that every business in Australia says they don’t want to be part of the problem, and that they won’t stand by and let their products be misused for harm.”
While it’s never up to victims to solve the problem, Fitzpatrick encourages women to take some action as well.
“I would also encourage every woman to read the fine print of their bank account, their insurance account, their telco account, their energy, their water account – and if it doesn’t offer protection against financial abuse, they should ask their business why not.”
For Mia, her message to women is to educate and financially empower themselves – and listen to the stories of victim-survivors like herself.
“I was really ashamed of what happened to me for many, many years,” Mia said, “until I really started to financially educate myself.
“Unless we hear another person’s story or hear another person’s experiences, we can’t challenge ourselves for a better solution. We just can’t.”
As an individual you can anonymously nominate any business that’s helped you, a loved one, friend or colleague navigate financial abuse, or nominate other businesses you’d like us to encourage to join the first movers. respectandprotect.au/get-involved/.
*not her real name
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If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au for online chat and video call services.
If you are concerned about your behaviour or use of violence, you can contact the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491 or visit http://www.ntv.org.au.
Feeling worried or no good? No shame, no judgement, safe place to yarn. Speak to a 13YARN Crisis Supporter, call 13 92 76. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.