This Worldwide Ladies’s Day, the Australian Banking Affiliation has reaffirmed the sector’s unwavering dedication to defending ladies’s monetary security and safety.
In Australia, one in six ladies will expertise monetary abuse over the course of their lifetime. The 2024 IWD theme “Depend Her In” is a chance to speak concerning the varieties of monetary abuse that ladies can face together with:
- controlling somebody’s spending
- stealing, taking, or ‘borrowing’ an individual’s cash, debit or bank cards, possessions or property with out their data or consent
- limiting or denying an individual entry to their cash or financial institution statements
- forging somebody’s signature, forcing them to signal a doc or deceptive them concerning the contents of the paperwork they’re signing
- pressuring one other individual to behave as a co-borrower or guarantor for a mortgage/joint mortgage when they don’t want to take action.
- making an individual pay for one more individual’s bills (e.g., the place they share a house with one other individual and don’t contribute to payments, upkeep, and different bills regardless of being requested to take action).
“The banking business recognises that monetary abuse is a type of coercive management and may hold ladies locked-in violent and harmful relationships,” stated ABA CEO Anna Bligh.”
“Banks have taken motion to stamp-out monetary abuse, together with coaching employees to identify crimson flags and referring prospects to specialised help.
“Banks are additionally making it abundantly clear of their merchandise that monetary abuse received’t be tolerated and will result in account suspensions or closures.”
13 Australian banks have now printed new phrases and situations that make it clear monetary abuse is unacceptable buyer habits, which can lead to account suspension or closure.
Creator of Design and Disrupt, Catherine Fitzpatrick stated, “Tens of hundreds of thousands of consumers have been informed banks received’t condone disrespectful and controlling behaviour, they usually’ll change their practices to explicitly forbid it.
“That is globally main motion from Australian banks which instantly addresses one of many key drivers of gendered violence. By no means has it been extra vital.”
