Domestic and Family Violence and Financial Abuse support.

Domestic & Family Violence happens when one person in a relationship uses violence or abuse to control the other person. It is usually an ongoing pattern of behaviour aimed at controlling a partner through fear.

Abuse can include the following:

• Psychological and emotional abuse;
• Intimidation and controlling behaviour;
• Verbal abuse;
• Stalking and harassment;
• Physical abuse including damaging property;
• Sexual abuse;
• Social abuse;
• Spiritual abuse;
• Financial abuse.

Financial abuse is a form of Domestic & Family Violence that prevents a person from becoming financially independent. It is about power, control and manipulation of an individual, and often occurs with other forms of violence.

Some common forms of financial abuse include:

• Someone being forced to take on debt they don’t want;
• Withholding or threatening to withhold money;
• Stopping access to money so the other person can’t leave the relationship;
• Transferring the house or other assets out of the person’s name;
• Trying to damage a person’s credit rating by not paying debts;
• Controlling behaviour that denies a person the ability to work or study;
• Preventing a person from taking part in decisions regarding a joint property;
• Fraudulently using another person’s details to obtain credit.

If you are experiencing Domestic & Family Violence and/or financial abuse, we are here for you. It takes courage to talk openly about your situation. We will provide you with confidential support to help you with your banking needs.

We can help by:

• Setting up a new bank account in your name only;
• Updating address details to keep your location confidential;
• Updating your mailing preference so all correspondence is issued via email;
• Changing passwords and PINs;
• Assisting you to access financial and personal counselling;
• Providing financial difficulty assistance.

If you’re worried you can't pay what you owe, won't be able to manage your upcoming repayments, or  you’re having difficulty meeting your repayments, please get in touch - we’re here to help.

For more information, please visit our Financial Difficulty Assistance page.