Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I have spoken many times in this place, as the assistant shadow minister for the prevention of family violence, about the scourge on our society and on our families in all its forms. I've spoken about the need to break the generational cycle and all the policies that are required for prevention. If we don't do that—if we don't look at a generational approach—then, in the words of victim-survivors, they will eternally be the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. We need to put that fence there, though systems there to prevent our victims from falling.

As we know, domestic abuse constitutes much more than simple physical violence. As we're aware, coercive control is where someone uses a pattern of abusive behaviour against another person. This can include nonphysical behaviours that instil uncertainty and fear of reprisal in an individual. Financial coercion is a form of coercive control that quite often goes unnoticed by friends and loved one's. It's very easily hidden away from view. The controlling partner managers the money. The reality is that financial coercion is a primary tool of domestic abusers to subjugate and disempower their victims. That is their whole intention. Without independent access to funds, victims are unable to put steps in place to escape an abusive situation, rendering themselves powerless.

With the increasing push to online services, it's far easier for would-be abuses to open, drain, deny access or close accounts without raising suspicions. With that in mind, I am very pleased to see the move by many of our financial institutions to recognise the existence and pervasive impact of coercive control in the domestic abuse space and to put conditions in place to stop it.

Having said that, our bank tellers and officers are not police officers, and there need to be some very strong guidelines in place to help them. I'm not stepping back from what I have said. This is very important legislation to ensure that it doesn't happen to our victims, our victim survivors and our elderly. It is not just those in the considered domestic male or female role; it is also sons, daughters and grandchildren who also can be seen to enter into this coercive control on elderly people. The Australian Banking Association industry guideline 'Preventing and responding to family domestic violence' states:

When a bank is aware of family and domestic violence, or suspects it may be occurring, the bank will work to support the customer wherever possible.

For the guidelines that need to be given to our bank tellers, to those working in the industry, I think it's really important that we ask these three questions. What guidelines do the banks have to establish the veracity or information about an account being used for financial control? What lawful authority do the banks have to investigate and make assessments on the nature and conduct of transactions in customers' joint or accessible accounts? What processes are in place to determine the risk that may arise for a joint account holder denying access to the perpetrator? These questions need to be answered to provide that structure for those working in our banking industry. I would hate to think that a 22-year-old teller remained silent because he or she was unaware of the guidelines and processes that should, and no doubt will, be put in place for him or her. We have to do everything we can for victims, particularly when it comes to financial coercive control.

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