Economic Abuse Reference Group calls for urgent implementation of reforms
In its tabled response to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services’ inquiry into financial abuse as an insidious form of domestic violence, the federal government expressed support or support in principle for 58 of the 61 recommendations.
Some of the committee’s recommendations touched on credit, privacy, insurance, superannuation, taxation, trusts, child support, company directorships, workforce capability, and whole-of-government coordination.
Many of the recommendations addressed the financial services industry. In a joint media release, Australia’s government shared that it has been collaborating closely with the industry to respond more effectively to financial abuse.
The joint media release comes from Daniel Mulino, federal assistant treasurer and minister for financial services; Michelle Rowland, federal attorney-general; Tanya Plibersek, federal social services minister; Ged Kearney, federal assistant minister for social services; and Andrew Leigh, federal assistant minister for productivity, competition, charities, and Treasury.
According to a newly published consultation paper, Australia’s government is planning reforms to respond to and relieve against financial abuse and harm, specifically coercive control through the use of the tax and social security systems to create debts.
According to Mulino, the planned reforms will seek “to better prevent financial abuse, support victim-survivors and ensure our financial, tax and corporate systems respond appropriately when harm occurs.”
Among the relief options under consideration, the federal government is contemplating providing courts in family law proceedings with more flexibility to transfer a tax or social security debt to the spouse perpetrating the financial abuse.
“The change would mean victim-survivors would no longer need to engage the ATO's administrative processes when they are already before the courts,” Rowland said in the joint media release.
This month in Sydney, Australia’s assistant treasurer plans to host roundtables to discuss further steps against financial abuse. Attendees will include regulators, financial services peak bodies, professional associations, legal clinics, victim-survivor advocates, and financial counsellors.
In its fight against financial abuse, Australia’s government highlighted its efforts in progress. Specifically, the federal government has worked to:
Regarding coerced directorships, Leigh said the following in the joint media release: “A company directorship should be a position of responsibility. Coerced directorships can leave victim-survivors saddled with debts and liabilities imposed through pressure or manipulation.”
The Economic Abuse Reference Group (EARG), a national network of over 70 community organisations fighting against the financial effects of family violence, welcomed the Australian government’s response to the committee’s report, released on 5 December 2024.
According to Lody Stewart, EARG’s national coordinator and Redfern Legal Centre’s financial abuse service policy and advocacy lead, the federal government’s support or support in principle is a significant step in tackling financial abuse.
EARG called for the federal government to prioritise implementing the report’s recommendations with clear commitments, specific timelines, practical reforms for better outcomes, and further funding for frontline services.
“Financial abuse does not occur within one system,” Stewart said in EARG’s media release. “Perpetrators can exploit gaps across banking, credit, tax, corporate, superannuation, child support, social security, and legal systems.”
“We urgently need law reform to tackle the weaponisation of the tax system by perpetrators of intimate partner financial abuse,” added Professor Ann Kayis-Kumar, founding director at UNSW Tax and Business Advisory Clinic.
Here are some other recent finance-related news stories in Australia.
Sarah Court, chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, welcomed the 17 June 2026 decision of the High Court of Australia granting its appeal against Web3 Ventures, clarifying “when products that provide a return fall within the existing financial services regulatory regime.”
In a case involving collapsed contracts for difference, the Federal Court of Australia issued an 11 June 2026 order for three defendants to pay the Commonwealth these pecuniary penalties: $156.7m for Union Standard International Group Pty Ltd, $114.1m for Maxi EFX Global AU Pty Ltd, and $29.4m for Bright AU Capital Pty Ltd.
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