Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am proud to be a part of a government that makes positive choices and creates positive bills. We're building, not blocking; we're choosing love, not hate. We want to empower people, not hold them back. And we choose inclusion, not exclusion. So I welcome the opportunity to speak to the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee Bill 2023, which, once passed, will establish the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee, as a statutory body. The committee will be put in place in statute to provide important advice to government—advice given to government in the lead-up to the budget each year about the best ways to tackle disadvantage. That's because we're a country that believes that all people should be able to achieve their full potential. This is a significant step towards ensuring that the government considers policy implications of its budgetary measures in relation to tackling financial disadvantage.

The Albanese Labor government has been committed to creating a permanent role for such a committee. It was a commitment that arose after the interim committee was formed in December 2022. It was advice from this committee that was submitted to the government in advance of the 2023-24 budget. Now, the Albanese Labor government again is wanting to deliver. The function of this committee will be to promote economic inclusion through boosting economic participation via, firstly, an effective mechanism in our social security system and, secondly, promotion of relevant programs in the community. Doing this is important because economic exclusion means entrenched disadvantage. To have the opposite—economic inclusion—it means a society that is more equitable and distributing income more fairly, including wealth, jobs and economic opportunities. An equitable distribution of income is better for everyone because it means prosperity, wellbeing and financial security for more people, not just the few. This includes boosting economic inclusion for our most vulnerable populations—the disadvantaged and the marginalised. This can include the most vulnerable and marginalised people in our community, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, the elderly, women and people who live with disabilities.

There are complex factors that lead to economic disadvantage. The reasons are often systemic and institutionalised. It could be due to a lack of access to education and training in early years or intergenerational trauma and disadvantage. People with a disability or our seniors find themselves economically excluded, particularly in a world where the majority of our financial services are provided online.

Family and domestic violence is also a factor that directly correlates to economic exclusion. Often, economic exclusion is a tool used by perpetrators to inflict abuse on a victim. Financial abuse is a form of domestic and family violence. It includes the use of bank accounts to perpetrate abuse and the use of money to control victims. It's a very hidden form of abuse that often doesn't get talked about, or sometimes victims don't even know that it's happening until after the fact. It's often a problem that will have a prolonged effect, reminding the victim-survivors for years to come of the abuse that they suffered at the hands of their perpetrator.

I have talked with advocates and victim-survivors in my community and have heard some difficult stories, and often some really confronting stories, of abuse. I remember door knocking in one of my communities and meeting a lovely elderly gentlemen who was living with his older daughter and grandchild. He explained the financial abuse that his daughter had been subjected to, which included the withholding of money for things as simple as sanitary products, which I think is really awful for someone who's supposedly a partner to do to their wife.

In more recent consultations with victim-survivors and advocates, it seems that, when it comes to perpetrators, where there is a will there is a way. Bank accounts are being used to harm women. Many of these women do not hold a bank account in their name. They will work, but their pay is deposited into an account controlled by their abusive partner. Financial abuse can often leave victims in debt and without access to resources to escape unsafe situations. This means that people who are economically disadvantaged are often trapped in a cycle of financial exclusion.

To exit disadvantage, to overcome economic exclusion and to achieve economic inclusion, all consumers need to have access to safe, secure and affordable financial products and services. This often starts with something as simple as having a bank account in your own name, which is something that I'm hearing eludes many women, particularly those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. But the truth is that I've even had this conversation with highly educated women who aren't from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. For many women, accessing something that seems to simple to us, their own bank account, is a big step forward to financial inclusion and wellbeing. A bank account can mean independence, autonomy and, ultimately, the ability to escape from an unsafe situation for them and their children.

Understanding the system and their financial rights is an important aspect to the path of economic inclusion. That's why next week I'll be launching the WA branch of the Economic Abuse Reference Group. Consistent with the commitment of the Albanese Labor government, I recognise the importance of listening to stakeholders, people with lived experience and those with expertise in this area. The Economic Abuse Reference Group is an informal group of Australian community organisations which influences government and industry responses to the financial impact of domestic and financial abuse. Its members include domestic and family violence services, community legal services and financial counselling services. It was initially established to consider recommendations of the Royal Commission into Family Violence in Victoria.

The EARG has provided input into national issues such as banking and insurance to create products that empower people to overcome economic exclusion. Over 20 organisations are involved. It's an example of bringing experts together to explore complex factors that lead to economic abuse and, ultimately, economic exclusion. I look forward to supporting WA organisations to establish a branch in my home state to advocate for positive change.

Consumer Credit Legal Service and Women's Legal Service WA have been driving this initiative, and I congratulate them on their hard work and advocacy. The WA reference group will be an important vehicle to raise awareness of the issues around financial exclusion caused by family and domestic violence. It may also provide advice on policy relevant to the social security system. It's a system that we need to provide to support and to protect women, with strategies to encourage their economic empowerment by overcoming economic exclusion, exclusion that has been reinforced by family structures or a system that does not allow for economic independence when needed.

Another function of the committee is to identify options to reduce barriers and disincentives to work, including in relation to social security and employment services. It means creating equal jobs. The government is working hard every day in this area to address the gender pay gap. The recent report on women's economic equality revealed that Australian women are much less likely to work full-time than women in many other OECD countries. And, despite more women working more than ever before, gender segregation still persists. The report also identified that women are more likely to be reliant on award-based, low-paid insecure work and tend to work fewer hours than men, and most casual workers are women.

The government is tackling these issues from a variety of angles such as the closing the loopholes legislation that disadvantages casual workers through our new Fair Work legislative reforms. The report found that women do the majority of formal care work. I ask leave to continue my remarks at a later hour.

Leave is granted.

Debate adjourned.

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