Tools for Change
Financial mentoring for women
experiencing financial abuse
Tools for Change
• Module 1: Understanding gender, power and money
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Introductions, expectations and module overview
Financial mentoring
Women and financial disadvantage
Financial security and family violence
Finance – health, self-esteem and relationships
• Module 2: Money management tools
– Money management tools
– Budgeting
• Module 3: Pathways forward
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Managing debt
Planning for the future
Making referrals
Evaluation and celebration.
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Financial mentoring resources
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Activities for the module
Supporting information
Reflective Journal
Literature review
Recognition of Prior Learning.
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Group agreement
What rules do we need to ensure our sessions are safe
and non-judgemental spaces for learning and sharing
ideas?
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Learning styles
• the learning styles questionnaire helps to
identify individual learning styles
• can assist mentors to present information in a
way that best meets the needs of each
mentee.
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Learning styles
Everyone has different learning styles:
• activist
• pragmatist
• theorist
• reflector.
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Module 1: Understanding gender,
power and money
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Financial mentoring
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What do financial mentors do?
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The financial mentoring process
Application and selection completed
Complete the Tools for Change modules
Police check successfully completed
Matched with a mentee
Introductory meeting between mentor, mentee and project coordinator where goal agreements
established
Mentor and mentee meet weekly (on average)
Mentor provides regular feedback to project coordinator via agreed methods
Mentor regularly enters comments in their Reflective Journal
Mentor attends group training and debriefing sessions as required
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Financial mentees …
• are ordinary women from all walks of life
• have low financial confidence
• experience many barriers to changing their
financial circumstances
• may have experienced family violence
• may experience health and emotional effects
related to their financial insecurity.
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Mentor/mentee relationship
A financial mentor must:
• practice patience and compassion
• focus on sharing new perspectives, ideas, options
and finding exceptions to a negative money story
• be curious about experiences, values and life
stories
• Ensure they are not behaving like a case worker,
counsellor or personal bank.
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Strengths-based mentoring
• a strengths-based approach focuses on
mentees strengths, not their deficits
• it places the mentee as the expert on her own
life
• empowers the mentee
• ensures conversations don’t get stuck in
negative retelling.
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Strengths-based mentoring
The underlying beliefs of strengths-based mentoring include:
• all women have strengths and capabilities
• women change and grow because of their strengths, not
their weaknesses
• women are the experts on their own situation
• when women recognise their strengths they can learn and
grow
• strengths include interpersonal, intellectual and physical
skills and women’s hopes, aspirations and interests.
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Burnout
Some examples:
• losing sleep or having disturbed sleep
• being exhausted
• feeling negative or unable to shift a negative feeling
• experiencing erratic or changed eating habits
• talking about the mentee all the time
• having erratic mood swings and changes
• being unable to turn off from the mentee’s story
• wanting to loan the mentee money
• contacting the mentee outside meeting arrangements.
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Self-care examples
• contact the project coordinator
• use group support through phone or email
contact
• create a small supportive group to check on
each others’ wellbeing
• create a closed blog.
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Comfort zones and safety
• establish boundaries
• think about the conversations you are
prepared to have and those you are not
• identify your own comfort zones and maintain
emotional safety
• remember that it is difficult, but important, to
say no at times.
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Disclosure
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believe
don’t judge
take her fears seriously
acknowledge her strengths
remember that safety is a priority
recognise that the perpetrator of the violence
is responsible for the violence.
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Disclosure
• acknowledge that each woman’s experience
of violence is different
• be clear about confidentiality
• provide accurate information about referrals
and resources.
The way a woman is treated can make an
enormous difference to outcomes and safety
for her and her children.
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Women and money
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Financial disadvantage
• On average Australian women earn 17% less than men.
• Women are more likely than men to work part-time or on a
casual basis.
• Women comprise 70% of the part-time labour force and
35% of the full-time labour force.
• Women are more likely to take time away from work to
raise children, therefore spending less time in the
workforce resulting in reduced opportunities for training
and career advancement.
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Financial disadvantage
• Women in the workforce are more likely to
work in sectors with lower pay rates such as
aged care, childcare, cleaning and retail.
• Women have less opportunity to contribute to
superannuation because they spend less time
in the workplace and earn lower pay rates.
However, women live longer than men and
consequently need more superannuation.
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Financial disadvantage
• In 2008, women held 34% of superannuation
assets compared to men’s 66%.
• Centrelink Single Parent payments are reduced to
Newstart once the youngest child is 8 years old.
• Newstart peaks at $243/week or $34.70/day
(2012).
• In 2006, 87% of one parent families with children
under 15 years old receiving the Single Parent
payment were headed by women.
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Financial security and family violence
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Legal definition
Family violence is defined as:
• behaviour by a person towards a family member of that person if
that behaviour –
 is physically or sexually abusive; or
 is emotionally or psychologically abusive; or
 is economically abusive; or
 is threatening; or
 is coercive; or
• in any other way controls or dominates the family member and
causes that family member to feel fear for the safety or wellbeing of
that family member or another person.
Source: Family Violence Protection Act 2008.
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Family violence
• includes behaviour that is repeated,
controlling, threatening and manipulative
• is an abuse of power perpetrated mostly by
men against women in a relationship or after
separation
• is gendered violence
• is used by the perpetrator to have power and
control over the victim.
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Family violence
• is a fundamental violation of a person’s
human rights no matter what their race or
religion
• can include criminal behaviour
• harms children on many levels as witnesses
and victims
• is unacceptable in any community.
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Family violence in rural areas
• easier access to weapons
• more isolated
• less anonymity.
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Staying, leaving and returning
• Women with economic resources are more able
to end an abusive relationship, less likely to
return and less likely to enter an abusive
relationship.
• Income is the strongest predictor of leaving or
staying.
• Financial dependency is the primary reason
women do not leave and the primary reason they
return.
• Escaping family violence often leads to poverty.
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The impact of financial abuse
Financial and other forms of abuse often leave
women without the confidence, knowledge or
even paperwork required to be financially
literate and financially included in our society.
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Statistics
• 40% of battered women reported family
violence had made them late for work more
than three times in the previous month
• 34% reported missing whole days of work
• 23% reported difficulties advancing their
careers
• 20% reported difficulties keeping their jobs.
Source: Chronister et al. 2004
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More statistics
Violence to women and children cost the
Australian economy approximately $13.6
billion dollars in 2009
(In 2002−2003 the cost was $8.1 billion).
Source: Federal Government Initiative, Time for Action – the National Council’s
Plan for Australia to Reduce Violence against women and their children, 20092021.
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Domestic violence is the leading contributor to
death, disability and illness in Victorian
women aged between 15−45 years old.
Source: The Health Costs of Violence: Measuring the Burden of Disease caused by
Intimate Partner Violence, Vic Health 2004.
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Women are …
• three times more likely to be injured as a
result of violence
• five times more likely to require medical
attention or hospitalisation
• five times more likely to report fearing for
their lives.
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Indigenous women are …
• 35 times more likely to suffer family violence
and sustain serious injury requiring
hospitalisation than non-Indigenous women
• 10 times more likely to die due to family
violence than non- Indigenous women.
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Children
• between 50−70% of children who witness
violence at home also suffer physical abuse
themselves
• witnessing parental domestic violence is the
strongest predictor of perpetration and
victimisation of violence in young people’s own
intimate relationships.
Source: Attorney Generals Department, 2000, National Research on Young People’s
Experience of Domestic Violence Fact Sheet, Canberra.
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Key areas of concern for women
Safety
Legal issues
Housing
Employment
Social security
Child support
Health care
Education
Bill payments and debts
Financial literacy
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Financial abuse
Financial abuse occurs between two adults where there is financial
co-dependency.
Financial abuse can take many forms, from denying all access to funds, to making
[the woman] solely responsible for all finances while handling money irresponsibly
himself. Money becomes a tool by which the abuser can further control the
victim, ensuring either her financial dependence on him, or shifting the
responsibility of keeping a roof over the family’s head onto the victim while
simultaneously denying [her] ability to do so or obstructing [her].
Financial abuse can have serious and long-term effects on women and children
experiencing it. Women and children can become trapped in a cycle of poverty,
they can experience physical and psychological ill health, isolation and feeling that
they can’t escape from the abusive relationship.
Source: Welsh Women’s Aid, <www.welshwomensaid.org.uk>.
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Consequences of financial abuse
• reduced financial confidence, knowledge and
skills due to limited experience
• long-term financial insecurity resulting from
erosion of financial resources and loss of
opportunities to increase income through
education and employment
• homelessness due to lack of financial reserves
and having to leave the family home.
Source: Commonwealth of Australia, Sanders et al., 2007
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Positive responses to Before meeting the
whether they were or abuser
had …
Whilst with the
abuser
After leaving the
abuser
Undertaking education
37%
18%
30%
In paid employment
47%
37%
16%
Receiving benefits
18%
51%
84%
Savings
37%
20%
20%
Loan/credit card/
overdraft
12%
39%
30%
Rent arrears
20%
33%
55%
Other debts
8%
41%
37%
Source: Refuge, 2008, Sharp, Nicola, What’s yours is mine The different forms of economic abuse and its impact on women and children experiencing domestic violence, <www.refuge.org.uk>.
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Economic Abuse Wheel
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Financial dependence
Person A is financially dependent on person B if
A relies on B for regular financial support.
A does not have to be totally financially
dependent on B, but the financial dependence
does have to be significant.
Source: Superannuation Complaints Tribunal, <www.sct.gov.au>.
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• Financial security is one of the
most significant factors in longterm healing and moving on for
victims of domestic violence.
• Financial security means different
things to different people.
• Financial security is having
enough to get by and a means of
empowerment to regain a sense
of self and agency.
Source: www.austdvclearinghouse.unsw.edu.au.
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Finance − health, self-esteem and
relationships to money
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Finance − health, self-esteem and
relationships to money
Worrying about money:
• is the main source of stress for most people
• affects people’s health.
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Finance − health, self-esteem and
relationships to money
• increased stress and potential risk of heart
attack
• low self-esteem
• relationship tensions
• poor sleeping habits
• poor general health
• depression and anxiety.
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Relationships to money
Relationships to money and how people use
money are individual, complex and influenced
by factors such as values, socio-economic
position, mood and culture.
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Next module
• Spending Diary
• Reflective Journal.
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Module 2: Money management tools
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Financial goals
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Types of debt
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contractual
government debt
loans from family and friends
relationship debt.
Relationship debt
A result of pressure from a partner or friend and where the person signing the
contract derives no benefit from the debt. It is basically an unjust debt where the
person acquiring the debt may act through emotions such as affection, intimidation,
or fear of the other person.
Examples:
• a boyfriend pressuring his girlfriend to buy him a slab of beer/a new phone/new
computer or new TV, If you really love me you will buy me this, or her going
guarantor for his car loan
• male secretly gambling away couples combined income
• woman being coerced into or unwittingly defrauding Centrelink and then being
held responsible for that debt when the relationship breaks up.
Signs of unmanageable debt
• using cash advances on a credit card or taking
payday loans
• paying minimum payments on bills
• borrowing money to pay household bills
• being behind on rent or mortgage payments
• getting new credit cards to pay old debt
• changing utility companies to avoid getting
services cut off.
Prioritising debts
1. highest interest
2. consumer debt
3. short repayment periods.
Goals
Setting goals helps women to:
• become financially secure
• save for the future
• reduce debt
• take control of their future.
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Setting achievable goals
W
I
S
H
When?
Is it feasible?
Specifics e.g. cost?
How can it be achieved?
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Getting assistance
• working with a financial mentor
• going to a financial counsellor or financial
counselling service
• paying a financial advisor.
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Financial counsellors
• provide a free, confidential and independent service
• assist people to:
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organise finances and do a budget
find ways to improve their financial situation
see if they are eligible for government assistance
negotiate repayment arrangements with creditors
apply for a hardship variation
• explain options and their consequences, including debt
recovery procedures, bankruptcy and other alternatives
• refer people to other services e.g. a gambling helpline,
family support, personal counselling or community legal
aid.
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Financial counsellors
Assist with advice about:
• debt management
• threatening letters or harassment from debt
collectors
• debt recovery actions through the courts
• house eviction, disconnection of utilities such as
gas, electricity, phone
• uninsured car accidents
• taxation debts
• unpaid fines.
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Websites
• Devil’s Advocate www.fcrc.org.au
• Salvation Army www.salvos.org.au
• Shark Watch www.wesleymission.org.au
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Financial advisors
Provide financial services to individuals,
businesses and governments including:
• investment advice
• pension planning
• insurances i.e. life, income protection,
critical illness
• mortgage advice.
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Short-term and long-term financial
goals
• saving for a major purchase e.g. own home,
holidays
• providing for children’s education e.g. school
excursions
• saving for later in life e.g. old age
• meeting monthly bill payments e.g. energy bills
• reducing debt e.g. making credit card
repayments.
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Prioritising goals and strategies
• prioritising helps with focussing on the main
issues
• timelines can change but the goal can remain
e.g. illness
• goals and strategies should be reviewed.
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Budgeting
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Useful resource
ASIC Money Management Kit
available at: http://www.moneysmart.gov.au
Search: money management kit
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Spending leaks
• Did anyone find that they only spent what
they anticipated they would spend for the
week?
• Did anyone find that they spent money on
extra things they hadn’t expected?
• Did anyone buy a cup of coffee?
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• Buy one coffee five days/week
@ $3.50
• Weekly total: $17.50
• Yearly total: $910.00
A spending leak – regular small
purchases that add up to
significant amounts of money
over a longer period of time.
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Spending diary
Tool to help:
• track spending
• see where costs are occurring
• analyse spending
• see opportunities for reducing costs
• make decisions about future spending and saving
• create a budget.
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Budget planning tool
ASIC Money Smart Excel budget planner at:
https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-tools/budget-planner
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Centrelink Financial Information
Service
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helps people make informed decisions about investment and financial issues for their current
and future needs.
it can:
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increase your confidence in dealing with your investment-related financial issues
help you understand your own financial affairs
inform you of your options
alert you to the levels of risk of each financial product type
explain the roles of financial industry professionals
help you be discerning when choosing experts and show you how to use expert information
explain the advantages of reducing personal debt
help you use credit in a sensible way
encourage you to increase your savings and plan for the future
help you plan effectively for your retirement
show you how you can maximise your overall retirement income.
Website: http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/centrelink/financial-information-service-service
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Child Support Agency
• Assists separated parents with information, payments and
support such as:
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Child Support Agreement
Child Support Assessment
Child Support Online Services (CSA online)
Child Support Payment
Child Support Referral Services
Child Support for Parents of Children Living Outside Australia
• Website:
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/child
-support/child-support-assessment.
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Centrepay
•
Free service that allows customers to pay bills via regular deductions from
their Centrelink payments
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Many organisations offer Centrepay as a bill-payment option for costs, including:
– private rent (including community housing)
– telecommunications
– electricity, gas, and water
– education fees and expenses
– ambulance
– child care
– home care services
– rental of household goods
– medical services and equipment
• Website:
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/centrepay.
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National Council for Single Mothers
Website: www.ncsmc.org.au/
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Victorian concessions
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Concessions for:
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communications
disability
energy
financial and welfare
hardship
health
rates and property
recreation
motor vehicle and
transport
water
MoneyHelp
Home owner and renter
support
Disability financial support
Financial crisis support.
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State Schools’ Relief
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provides disadvantaged
Victorian students with new school wear
and attire
only responds to requests from
principals, assistant principals and
welfare coordinators
parents or carers who are struggling
financially to provide for their child's
government education should make an
appointment with the school principal or
assistant principal/welfare coordinator to
discuss their issues.
Dear Pam
Thank-you for my new
school clothes. They
are brand new and
they look good. My
new school uniform
looks great! The
clothes look good on
me and keep me
warm. The shoes are
awesome!
Source; http://ssr.net.au
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Module 3: Pathways forward
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Managing debt
Managing debt is one of the most
complex and stressful areas of money
management for women with financial
problems.
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Responses to dealing with debt
• refinancing
• selling assets
• borrowing from family and
friends
• consolidating debt
• increasing income
• decreasing expenditure
• making smaller repayments
• declaring bankruptcy
• getting government
assistance
• doing nothing/leaving town
• contacting support agencies
for help with food and
energy bill payments
• seeking a moratorium for
making payments
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Managing debt
ASIC MoneySmart Managing debts webpage
• making repayments
• trouble with debt
• problems paying your mortgage
• dealing with debt collectors
• consolidating and refinancing debts
• borrowing basics
• saving money on credit cards.
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Managing debt
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http://www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au
•
https://www.moneysmart.gov.au
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Managing debt
http://consumeraction.org.au
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Credit cards
Disadvantages include:
• high cost of credit/interest rates
• ease of getting into debt
• difficulties that arise if minimum payments
aren’t made
• temptation to use a credit card to pay an
existing debt.
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Payday and fringe lenders
• typically make loans to people excluded from the
mainstream personal credit organisations such as
banks and building societies
• payday lending is advancing money next payday
in exchange for a fee/interest rate of
approximately 48%
• fringe lenders typically provide smaller personal
loans up to $5,000 in exchange for a fee/interest
rate around 48% for periods up to one year.
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Consumer lease contracts
• hiring an item (for example, a home computer or
television) over a period of time
• making regular rental payments (usually monthly)
plus fees and charges until the term of the
contract finishes.
• not automatically owning the item at the end of
the lease period
• usually paying more − total lease payments
always add up to more than the cash purchase
price of the item.
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Credit ratings
• based on a person’s history of borrowing
and making repayments
• have an impact on a person’s future
capacity to borrow money.
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Scams
Examples
• investment scams
• superannuation scams
• banking and credit card
scams
• money transfer requests
• lotteries and fake prizes
Examples
• chain letters and pyramid
schemes
• dating and romance
schemes
• charity scams
• job and employment scams
• spam emails and unwanted
telemarketing calls
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No interest/low interest loans
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No Interest Loans Scheme (NILS©)
StepUp
AddsUp
Saver Plus.
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Consumer rights
• Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission (ACCC) has produced an online
handbook listing 1600 private, community and
government organisations that offer consumer
and business complaint-handling services e.g.
financial hardship services, dispute resolution
services, consumer protection services
• Website: www.accc.gov.au.
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Dishonour fee
This week I had two dishonour fees of $45
each because every time I went shopping the
bank debited the wrong account. I went back to
the bank and the girl said ‘You should have told
us’. I said ‘Aren't you going to give me back my
$90? – that is really not fair!’ I got home and I
rang the Ombudsman then the bank said ‘We
are sorry, within half an hour the money will be
in your account.’
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Planning for the future
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Keeping paperwork
• household bills
• receipts and dockets
• banking records and correspondence (including anything to
or from the bank)
• superannuation benefit statements and other documents
that come from a superannuation fund
• product disclosure statements, dividend statements and
certificates that apply to any investments
• employment records
• contracts
• insurance records.
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Wills
• a will is a legal document that states how a
person’s assets are to be distributed when they
die and who is responsible for carrying out these
wishes
• advice and assistance is available from:
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State Trustees
ASIC MoneySmart website
Victoria Legal Aid
community legal aid services
solicitors.
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Powers of attorney
• Powers of attorney are legal documents that state
who is responsible for making decisions for a
person if they are unable to make their own
informed decisions
• Types:
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Enduring Power of Attorney (financial)
Enduring Power of Attorney (medical treatment)
Enduring Power of Guardianship
General Power of Attorney.
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Powers of attorney
Information about preparing powers of
attorney:
• Public Advocate’s website
• ASIC MoneySmart website
• Victoria Legal Aid.
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Funerals
• there are a number of options for people
wishing to make arrangements for paying for
their funeral before they die; however, not all
the options are financially wise decisions
• MoneySmart webpage Paying for your funeral
(https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-andresources (Search: paying for your funeral).
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Making referrals
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Making referrals
What support services are available for you to
refer mentees to?
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Women’s Health Goulburn North East
57 Rowan Street Wangaratta VIC 3677
Phone: 03 5722 3009
Fax: 03 5722 3020
Email: whealth@whealth.com.au
Web: www.whealth.com.au
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