● Monash University researchers have conducted interviews with victim-survivors of family violence to evaluate Victorian water companies' family violence response.
● The research revealed household water accounts can be used to perpetrate economic abuse.
● The research found Victorian water companies have made progress in their family violence response, but their victim-survivor customers think they can do better.
"He was controlling everything; he was handling everything and [the] money. That's how they keep their monopoly. That's how they keep their control over us. That's how they govern everything, and they never let women handle anything." - victim-survivor "Sarah"
"My credit rating will be ruined. I'm 50 [years old] hoping to start over again. I've got a friend; she's going through the same thing. You're left broke while they step out of everything and move on. It doesn't affect their life. Financially they walk away and just leave you in the debt. Everyone is chasing you. I had phone calls, I get texts, I get everything from [credit provider] that he's meant to pay out. They keep harassing me and harassing me." - victim-survivor "Amina"
In an Australian-first study, Monash University researchers have shown that essential service providers such as water companies have a role to play as frontline responders to economic abuse.
"Sarah" and "Amina" are two of several victim-survivors of economic abuse interviewed by Monash Law Honours graduate Eliza Venville for the study. None of the victim-survivors interviewed knew they could get support from their water company.
The research explored recent Victorian responses to family violence with a focus on economic abuse and household water supply.
Researcher and practitioner Dr Paul Satur, from Monash Water Sensitive Cities and Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI), says economic abuse is a common but unrecognised form of family violence.
"We all know that family violence can be physical. But economic abuse is family violence too. It involves manipulating a person's access to money, including their wages, their bank accounts or their bills to maintain power and control," he said.
Household water accounts can be used to perpetrate economic abuse, including where a perpetrator refuses to contribute to a jointly held account or places an account into a person's name without their permission. In July 2018, following recommendations made by the Royal Commission into Family Violence (2016), significant reforms were made to the water business customer service codes which govern the operation of water retailers in Victoria.
Associate Professor Dr Becky Batagol from the Faculty of Law and the Monash Sustainable Development Institute, says the Victorian water industry has made significant progress in the area of family violence as frontline responders to economic abuse, but they can do more.
The research revealed that when perpetrators of family violence restrict victim-survivors' access to support, essential service providers (including water companies) can play a critical role in identifying and responding to economic abuse.
"Since the Royal Commission into Family Violence handed down its report 5 years ago, the state's water industry has led the way for essential service providers across Australia by better assisting family violence-affected customers. Other essential industries such as energy, telecommunications, banking and finance can learn a lot from what Victorian water businesses are doing."
Ms Venville says the research fills a significant gap in the current understanding of how industry can and should respond to family violence.
"Our research shows that all essential service providers, including water businesses, need to do more to understand the lived-experience of victim-survivors of economic abuse and family violence. Listening to victim-survivors helps us to ensure that we get our responses just right."
"Our interviews with water customers experiencing economic abuse showed that family violence support from water companies is enormously valuable. But the quality of help received depends on the customer's situation."
"Our research does not mean that essential service provider front-line staff need to become instant experts in family violence. There is a need for high quality family violence training and support for customer service teams so that they can recognise violence and then make appropriate referrals to specialist family violence services when a customer needs it."
The research makes several recommendations about how water companies can do better:
● Water companies must try harder to ensure customers are aware of the support available for victim-survivors.
● Water companies must train their customer service staff to recognise economic abuse.
● Water companies must only sell customer debts to debt collectors with a family violence policy.
● An inter-industry risk assessment tool for identifying economic abuse must be developed.
● An inter-industry reference group must be established to share knowledge and solve problems.
