Financial Abuse Support Project

The Financial Abuse Support is an initiative of 1800RESPECT. The aim is to increase information on financial abuse on the 1800RESPECT website, provide a toolkit to increase awareness of financial abuse and share referral pathways to appropriate services.

The project was overseen by an Expert Advisory Group (EAG) representing experts and advocates in the financial, domestic violence and human rights sectors. The EAG comprised of representatives from:

• Advocacy for Inclusion (Canberra)
• Awakening Ways (Brisbane)
• Women’s Information and Referral Exchange (WIRE) (Melbourne)
• Financial Counselling Australia (Melbourne)
• RMIT University (Melbourne).

The Financial Abuse Support Toolkit can be used by anyone, whether they are experiencing financial abuse, supporting someone who is, or works in related sectors.

The objectives of this toolkit are to promote awareness of financial abuse as a form of domestic or family violence, share information on referral pathways and promote 1800RESPECT and the National Debt Helpline as first steps.

The toolkit features three videos with people with lived experience sharing their individual stories. In these videos, women speak about what financial abuse feels like and looks like, how it is similar to other forms of domestic or family violence, and how they sought support. We thank the following people for sharing their experiences so they can help others in similar situations:

• Samantha Cooper (Brisbane)
• Lisa McAdams (Sydney)
• Nicole Lee (Melbourne).

The Financial Abuse Support Toolkit is available now on the 1800RESPECT website. The videos can also be viewed in a playlist on the 1800RESPECT YouTube channel. A promotional toolkit is also available on the 1800RESPECT website for those who wish to share information with their networks on social media.