Understanding
financial abuse
A form of family violence we don’t talk about enough
We know there can be barriers for LGBTIQA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Gender Diverse, Intersex, Queer and Asexual) communities seeking support for family and intimate partner violence
It can also be hard to know how to best support people we love who experience family and intimate partner violence.
We want to encourage conversation to better understand what financial abuse looks like and make visible types of financial abuse that may be specific to LGBTIQA+ communities.
This page had been designed to outline what financial abuse looks like, how financial abuse might be used in our communities and where to get support.
We want to build community knowledge and offer some conversation starters and support people to reduce risks and recover from financial abuse.
In this resource, you will find the following:
What is financial abuse?
LGBTIQA+ experiences
Safety Planning
Get Support
Links to information and resource pages
We are here to support you
Rainbow Door is a free service for the LGBTIQA+ community operated by LGBTIQA+ peers.
Find out more →
Financial abuse constitutes 16.1%
of intimate partner violence and 9.2%
of family violence experienced within LGBTIQA+ communities.
Private Lives 3, 2020
What is financial abuse?
Financial abuse is about one person having power and control over another person or many persons. When this happens, this is family violence. It often starts subtly but gets progressively worse over time, making it hard for those targeted to identify or know what to do.
It can also be hard to know how to best support people we love who experience family and intimate partner violence.
Financial abuse is often used in conjunction with other forms of coercive control, including social abuse, emotional and psychological abuse, threats and intimidation, and physical and sexual abuse.
People use financial abuse as a control tactic to gain and hold power over another person through controlling their finances, limiting their access to finances or employment, or through threats of violence or control relating to finances.
Financial abuse can happen to anyone and can occur during a relationship and be ongoing after separation.
Given the nature of financial abuse, a person experiencing harm may not realise it’s happening until much later, especially if they have been denied access to their finances or are made to feel fear for their own safety.
For these reasons, financial abuse can be hard to detect, especially when used alongside other forms of coercive control.
Contact Rainbow Door
You can call, text or email Rainbow Door for information, advice and support.
Phone: 1800 729 367
Text: 0480 017 246
Email: support@rainbowdoor.org.au
People who use financial abuse may use the below tactics, in varying frequency and severity:
monitoring a person’s spending. For example, forcing someone to show receipts, refusing to allow them to have their own account, allocating cash/amounts for specific items, demeaning a person in front of their children or others around their use or perceived misuse of money
putting bills and expenses in another person’s name and/or creating large debts on shared or joint credit cards
taking out a loan or mortgage in someone else’s name without their consent; this includes taking out loans on the family home without a partner’s knowledge or consent, and coercing a person to take out personal loans
using a person’s disability support or pension without their consent or reporting a person to Centrelink, ensuring their payments are suspended
denying a person access to money, or controlling a partner or family member’s money and/or bank accounts
preventing a person from engaging in work or study, this can include keeping a person up late so they’re too tired to attend work
gambling a family member or partner’s money, or shared money
denying a person access to medical needs and support
denying, hiding or withholding a person’s access to their personal identification documents
stealing money or items of value from a person
refusing to speak to or visit a person you care for unless money is given, this includes adult children of older people
Financial abuse can also start or continue after a relationship has ended and can potentially take years or even decades to recover from.
Examples of financial abuse once a relationship has ended can include:
taking out loans on the family home without consent and/or refusing to allow the sale of the family home
continuing to monitor or control a person’s credit cards or finances
deliberately extending financial settlement procedures to prevent a person from being able to afford ongoing legal representation and/or support
deliberately engaging in family court when a person knows the other partner cannot afford legal fees to negotiate custody or refusing to take part in mediation
deliberately misleading or lying on social media about financial abuse that took place
denying or withholding child support payments
LGBTIQA+ experiences of financial abuse
LGBTIQA+ people can experience additional forms of financial abuse that are specific to LGBTIQA+ communities. These can include:
withholding or manipulating finances for gender affirming care and/or surgery
threats to out someone at work, or to their family or community, jeopardising their access to finances or financial support
threats of homelessness and/or being financially cut off from the family if a young person is unwilling to hide their gender identity or sexuality
threatening a person’s financial stability by jeopardising the progress of their visa status to stay and work in Australia and when returning home is not a safe option
denying access or support to affirming healthcare for young people whose families don’t support their sexuality or gender expression
family members not respecting LGBTIQA+ partners in financial, medical or end of life decisions - this is also called elder abuse
control or manipulation over an older LGBTI+ person’s financial wishes or decision making
Support for elder abuse:
If you are concerned or want to know more about elder abuse you can call to talk to a LGBTIQA+ peer on the below helplines:
Rainbow Door: 1800 729 367 (Victoria) 10.00am - 5.00pm
QLife: 1800 184 527 (National) 3.00pm - midnight
Out and About is a free program of Switchboard Victoria for older lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or intersex (LGBTI+) people. It aims to reduce social isolation and loneliness through creating peer friendships and community connections. Our service can be used by LGBTI+ older people anywhere in Victoria.
Seniors Rights Victoria provides information, support, advice and education to help prevent elder abuse.
Call 1300 368 821
Safety planning
If you or someone you know is currently experiencing financial abuse, you may find this safety plan useful.
Please note, only do the following if it’s safe to do so – call Rainbow Door (1800 729 367) for a risk assessment if you are unsure.
→ Tell someone you trust
→ Open a separate bank account in your name only
→ If you are working, speak to your organisation and arrange for a small amount of money to be deposited in your separate account each pay cycle
→ Change your passwords in your online banking account
→ Set up a new email account
→ Gather important documents (birth certificate, passport, name change certificate etc), make copies of them and email them to your new email account
→ If you leave the relationship, consider freezing any joint accounts and cancel credit cards
→ If household bills are in joint names, tell your providers as soon as you can to avoid being liable for further costs
→ Speak to a financial counsellor to manage any debt as soon as you can
Get support
Whatever you’re experiencing, help and support is available.
Recovering from financial abuse can be difficult, especially when housing, cost of living, and navigating health and wellbeing can involve many moving and complex factors. And money can feel hard to talk about.
Bringing up finances within intimate partner relationships or in family settings can feel very challenging, particularly for younger and older LGBTI+ people. We can also feel shame or fear when talking about how we spend or manage money.
If you are concerned that you or someone you know may be experiencing difficulties with finances within a relationship, please get in touch for support and information from:
Rainbow Door (Victoria)
Hours: 10am-5pm // every day
Phone: 1800 729 367
Text: 0480 017 246
Visit: rainbowdoor.org.au
Are you worried about behaviour you are using with an intimate partner or family member?
We encourage people who could be realising that they are using or have used violence to seek support and learning. You can speak with us at Rainbow Door.
Thorne Harbour Health -Family Violence Services
Thorne Harbour Health provide counselling services to LGBTIQA+ communities and behaviour change programs.
Queerspace
Youth Family Violence Service for young people who have experienced and/or enacted harm (AVITH/Adolescent Violence in the Home)
Futures Free from Violence offers women, trans, and gender diverse people who have used force and/or violence in family and intimate partner relationships the opportunity to work towards change in both a supported group and one-to-one therapeutic environment.
Information and resources for individuals
Say It Out Loud
Encourages LGBTQ+ communities to have healthy relationships, get help for unhealthy relationships and support their friends.
Provides information and guidance relating to sexual, family and intimate partner violence in the Australian LGBTQ+ community.
National Debt Helpline
National Debt Helpline is a not-for-profit service that helps people tackle their debt problems. Financial counselling helps you manage your debts and get your finances back under control. This service is free, confidential and independent. It is a not-for-profit, community-based service for people experiencing financial difficulty or who have problems with debt.
Call 1800 007 007
Safe Always
Many LGBTIQA+ people have happy and healthy relationships, but there are some who are hurt or even harmed by their partners or family members.
This website provides information for LGBTIQA+ people experiencing family violence and was developed by Thorne Harbour Health.
CommBank Next Chapter
The CommBank Next Chapter Team can provide you with free and confidential support by connecting you to the right specialist services to help rebuild your financial independence. This support is available to people of all genders and sexualities. They offer support and referral to a range of specialist services and can help you if you are worried about your finances because of domestic violence or coercive control.
Call 1800 222 387
Money Smart
Helps people take control of their money with free tools, tips and guidance. Money Smart has simple tools, tips and calculators to help people of all ages, backgrounds and incomes be in control of their financial lives.
Abuse in transaction descriptions
Technology-facilitated abuse is a form of controlling behaviour often used in the context of family and domestic violence. If you are receiving abusive, harassing or coercive messages attached to banking transactions your bank may be able to help you to secure your banking.
Djirra
Sharing stories, finding solutions
Djirra is a place where culture is shared and celebrated, and where practical support is available to all Aboriginal women and particularly to Aboriginal people who are currently experiencing family violence or have in the past.
Call 1800 105 303
FVREE
Free From Family Violence provide inclusive services to people, their pets and animals. They also support those responding to family violence to end the cycle of violence.
FVREE's LGBTIQA+ Family Violence Brochure
WIRE
WIRE originally stood for ‘Women’s Information and Referral Exchange Inc’. They have extended services to respond to the needs of non-binary and gender-diverse people as well.
They provide Victoria-wide free generalist information, support and referral service run by women and gender diverse people, for women and gender diverse people.
Call 1300 134 130
Family violence sector resources supporting LGBTIQA+ communities
Rainbow Health Australia
Rainbow Health Australia (RHA) has been working for over 15 years to deliver positive change for LGBTIQ communities.
Queer Family Violence Sector Network (QFVSN)
Transfemme
Stories, tips and resources to support healthier relationships between trans women and men.
Transfemme was created by the Zoe Belle Gender Collective.
Northern Integrated Family Violence Services Partnership
Resources to support LGBTIQA+ communities in the context of family violence.
1800 Respect
National Domestic Family violence and Sexual Violence Counselling Service
Understanding the issues of LGBTQIA+ experiences of domestic, family and sexual violence
Responding to LGBTQIA+ experiences of domestic, family and sexual violence
Safe and Equal
The peak body for specialist family violence services that provide support to victim survivors in Victoria.
Safe Steps
Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre is working towards Rainbow Tick accreditation.
You can order copies or download Safe Steps LGBTIQA+ Inclusive Services brochure for your workplace or community group.
Call 1800 015 188
This webpage has been developed with the financial support of CommBank Next Chapter