Is Financial Abuse a crime in Australia?

KEY TAKEAWAY

Financial abuse is a type of coercive control yet to be criminalised in New South Wales, which the NSW Government has committed to introducing laws to outlaw and recognise as a form of domestic violence as a stand-alone offence. Financial abuse will cover perpetrators behaviours of controlling or restricting their partners financial resources as a form of coercive control.

A recent report has revealed that more than 600,000 Australians over the past 12-months had been victims of financial abuse, costing over $10 billion a year.

The report, commissioned by Commonwealth Bank, found that at least one in 30 women and one in 50 men were victims.

It notes that the figures underestimate the full extent of the issue.