New research in conjunction with Southern Cross University has revealed the web of systems through which financial abuse can be perpetrated in ways that are largely unchecked, and with significant perpetrator autonomy.
'Mapping Intimate Partner Financial Abuse Across Public and Private Systems' , led by Swinburne University, is published today in the Australian Journal of Social Issues.
Southern Cross University's Associate Professor Georgina Dimopoulos was part of the research team that analysed publicly available submissions from the 2023 federal parliamentary inquiry into financial abuse, focusing on submissions from individuals who had experienced intimate-partner financial abuse.
In particular, Associate Professor Dimopoulos said the research highlighted the family law system as a site of continued financial abuse, post-separation.
"The family courts are enabling financial abuse through the misuse of court processes, victim-survivors not being able to afford legal representation, and perpetrators draining victim-survivors' financial resources through prolonged litigation," said Associate Professor Dimopoulos.
"Recent reforms to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) to address systems abuse and to better recognise the impacts of intimate partner financial abuse on women's financial security and independence following separation are promising. But whether these reforms will combat the insidious weaponisation of the family law system by perpetrators remains to be seen."
The researchers' analysis found that auxiliaries - such as bank managers, personal tax accountants, and family lawyers - opened the door to continued financial abuse, as they inadvertently facilitated a perpetrator's financial harms through legal pathways and continued client services.
"Perpetrators of intimate-partner financial abuse continue to be afforded privacy in their handling of personal finances, while victim-survivors are often left with public debts," said Professor Kay Cook of Swinburne University.
"Private systems of financial wealth, like banking institutions, private businesses, superannuation, and trust accounts, give perpetrators of financial abuse opportunities to extract financial benefits and inflict financial harms on victim-survivors."
The consequences of these financial harms are experienced by victim-survivors for many years post-separation.
"Victims' financial resources are diminished, safe housing is compromised, and they are bound to public systems and public debts, through Centrelink child support, the Australian Taxation Office, and the family courts," said Professor Cook.
Following the parliamentary inquiry into financial abuse and the growing understanding about how intimate-partner financial abuse can occur, the federal government is taking action on the weaponisation of the child support and tax systems.
