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

On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, I present the committee's report, incorporating a dissenting report, entitled Financial abuse: an insidious form of domestic violence.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—I'm grateful to speak on this report today. It is the report of the hardworking Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services on the financial services regulatory framework in relation to financial abuse. I thank the deputy chair, the member for Mitchell, for giving me the opportunity to present this report, and also the chair of the committee, Senator O'Neill, who chaired an incredible committee inquiry.

During the 2022 election campaign my team and I visited 49,000 homes. There was one conversation that stayed with me. It was with a father who was living with his adult daughter. He explained how his daughter was leaving a coercive relationship. It was a coercive relationship to the point where the daughter did not have the financial means to buy sanitary products. That's a level of coercion that I have not heard about before.

Also, early in my term, I met Shenane, a proud Torres Strait Islander woman who was living in my electorate. She courageously spoke about her abuse. She had been financially exploited. From her domestic violence relationship, she had ended up in a nine-month coma, drowning in debt. It turned out that her ex had racked up tens of thousands of dollars of debt. These stories inspired me to look at the way that we look at our systems. I met with Shenane, and she encouraged me with her positive outlook and determination to help others. I wanted to raise their voices at a national level, which I did. Then there's Julie Adams from WA. She lost her daughter, Molly, to domestic violence related suicide. Her alleged perpetrator received Molly's superannuation. Julie's advocacy has been courageous. She is an inspiration.

This inquiry has revealed the devastating impact of financial abuse. The statistics are shocking. One-point-seven billion dollars in unpaid child support is just one example. We uncovered issues that we had not anticipated. And this is the power of democracy. Parliamentary inquiries shine the light on issues that impact everyday Australians. Financial abuse is one of them. The report is titled Financial abuse: an insidious form of domestic violence, and it is. We just uncovered exactly how insidious it is. Senator Deborah O'Neill, the committee chair, called it 'a quiet but raging epidemic', and I think she's absolutely right.

We have seen how systems and financial products are weaponised to inflict harm—harm that stops victims-survivors moving forward. Superannuation, credit and debit card products, mortgage arrangements: all can be turned into tools of abuse. It does not discriminate. It crosses boundaries: age, wealth, culture, gender. The impact is devastating. This is outrageous, and we must make sure that it stops. We all have a role to play.

As an engineer, I believe in designing systems that work for people. Systems should protect them, not harm them. Safety by design is key. Some financial institutions are embracing this, but it must be universal and across all financial services and across government. We must build protections in our systems that prevent harm before it happens.

The committee's recommendations tackle these issues head on. I thank Senator O'Neill for her leadership. I thank the deputy chair and all the committee members for their commitment. To the witnesses who bravely gave evidence: thank you. Your courage was inspiring. Our committee are not often brought to tears, but you brought us to tears on multiple occasions. Your stories made it real and tangible and showed the true extent of the problem. It is no longer invisible. Your voices have been heard.

The national conversation has been a game changer. Now we have a game plan. There are 61 recommendations, and I'm deeply proud of this work. This is how we create change, and I look forward to progressing this work in the House and our community.