Spotlight on economic abuse - Good Shepherd Youth & Family ...

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establish if there is a need for responses in addition to the changes to ATO guidelines for self-managed superannuation fund trustees recommended by the ALRC (2011c). The ALRC (2011c) has recommended some provisions to make it easier for a woman to access some of her superannuation funds prior to retirement. While this access may be extremely helpful to women who need funds at a time of crisis there is a very strong argument for the development of alternative options through the income support system or some other arrangement. The depleting of women’s superannuation savings may create disadvantage in the long term and it can be seen as a continuation of economic abuse. Consumer protection is a crucial area of regulation for women experiencing economic abuse because it affects the forms economic abuse take, women’s ability to stop abuse, their ability to manage financially on leaving a relationship and their options for re-establishing financial security and wellbeing. Recent regulatory reform in relation to consumer credit has not resulted in effective tightening of regulation making it imperative that women have access to appropriate financial products so they are not forced to rely on high interest products provided by fringe lenders. Consumer protection in relation to other products and essential services relies heavily on voluntary codes and company policies and this means there may be a need for education and information for individual providers to raise awareness and understanding of economic abuse and to identify appropriate responses. Recent regulatory reform of the financial advice industry has included measures to increase the availability of low cost advice. The use of financial advisers by women experiencing abuse and any understanding within the profession of domestic and family violence are areas about which little is known. 48
Employment Frameworks, Policies and Practices In contemporary public policy, participation in employment is generally regarded as the primary means for women to gain economic wellbeing while it has also been identified as a key pathway from domestic violence to economic independence and self-sufficiency (Barrett Meyering 2010). Significant gender inequities exist for women when it comes to gaining economic security through employment participation. These include gender pay inequities and women’s over-representation in low-paid and insecure employment, both of which are linked to broader social inequities. Gender segregation in employment also services to reinforce traditional gender stereotypes. Reduced lifetime employment including because of pregnancy, childbirth and caring for children or other family members can also have negative impacts on overall financial security through employment and result in less accumulated superannuation and fewer other savings for retirement (Cassells et al. 2009). Recent policy developments have seen some positive developments to address some of these broader gender inequities, including the introduction of paid maternity leave and the success of a national gender pay equity case for social and community services workers (Baird, Williamson & Heron 2012; McCrystal & Smith 2011). However, significant gender pay inequities continue to exist—supported by women’s concentration in particular occupations and industries—while problems associated with increased insecurity in employment continue to disproportionately affect women, including because much part-time employment is casual employment. Casual employment, which is without paid leave entitlements, makes up a quarter of all women’s employment (ABS 2011). In Australia and elsewhere there has been some attention to workplaces as sites for addressing domestic and family violence through primary, secondary and tertiary interventions and all of these are also direct means of preventing or responding to economic abuse. In relation to primary interventions, as outlined above, contemporary domestic and family violence policies specifically identify employment participation and equality in employment as preventative measures supporting women’s economic independence. Other areas of public policy which impact on women’s workforce participation are childcare, education and training, employment assistance and income support, and these are also important tertiary interventions for women who have experienced domestic and family violence. Secondary interventions prevent discrimination against women who have been subjected to violence, use the workplace as a site for women to gain access to support and information and make workplaces safe and supportive for women who have been subjected to domestic and family violence. Relevant regulation in addition to employment regulation includes antidiscrimination and workplace health and safety, and strategies include education and training for employers and employees about domestic and family violence. Tertiary interventions respond to violence through provision of assistance and employee entitlements such as paid leave for women who have been subjected to domestic and family violence. In addition to workplace relations legislation and industrial instruments (for example, collective enterprise agreements and awards) anti-discrimination legislation is relevant here. The other significant area of tertiary intervention is the facilitation of participation in employment by women who have been subjected to domestic and family violence including through individual job search, training and other employment assistance. There is little published research relating to effective responses in this area and it could be the focus of further investigation. Past Commonwealth employment programs specifically targeted to assist sole parents including the Jobs Education and Training program are 49
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Spotlight on Econo
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Contents List of Abbreviations ....
Page 6 and 7:
Executive Summary This literature r
Page 8 and 9: legal matters migration matters hea
Page 10 and 11: There is a need for greater support
Page 12 and 13: Overview This paper is organised as
Page 14 and 15: The DV Vic definition informs the u
Page 16 and 17: Case Study: Maria Maria’s husband
Page 18 and 19: Some ‘typical scenarios’ of eco
Page 20 and 21: As part of repeated or ongoing cont
Page 22 and 23: also outside the scope of this pape
Page 24 and 25: Influences, Impacts and Points of I
Page 26 and 27: Particular vulnerabilities to econo
Page 28 and 29: Exploring the impacts of economic a
Page 30 and 31: Impacts relating to child support.
Page 32 and 33: Compared with 1995, people were mor
Page 34 and 35: Public Policies and Practices There
Page 36 and 37: the legal frameworks affecting dome
Page 38 and 39: In addition to family violence poli
Page 40 and 41: Centrelink may seek to recover paym
Page 42 and 43: Services staff providing customer s
Page 44 and 45: perpetrators to be excluded from th
Page 46 and 47: purpose is to “build the capacity
Page 48 and 49: financial literacy strategy. Howeve
Page 50 and 51: or in any other way controls or dom
Page 52 and 53: In its recent review the ALRC ident
Page 54 and 55: and for the creation of a new tempo
Page 56 and 57: equiring assistance or consideratio
Page 60 and 61: considered by community sector grou
Page 62 and 63: Community Services Policies and Pra
Page 64 and 65: Financial counselling services are
Page 66 and 67: Conclusion: Community services resp
Page 68 and 69: —— 2011, Forms of employment, A
Page 70 and 71: Chappell, D & Di Martino, V 2000, V
Page 72 and 73: se.unsw.edu.au/Conference%20papers/
Page 74 and 75: Northern Territory Government 2008,
Page 76 and 77: VicHealth—see Victorian Health Pr
Page 78 and 79: ALRC (2011c) recommendations for ch
Page 80: GoodShepherd_Cover_print.indd 2 1/1
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