When systems fail: how insurers can help prevent domestic and financial abuse

Financial abuse is not rare. It is not marginal. And it is not separate from the everyday systems people rely on.

In Australia, one in four women have experienced domestic and family violence since the age of 15, and more than 90% of those women also experience financial abuse.

Separate analysis has found 1 in 30 women are subjected specifically to financial abuse, contributing to an economic cost exceeding $10 billion annually.

These are not abstract numbers. They describe women navigating systems such as banks, insurers and government agencies, often at the exact moment those systems matter most.

And too often, those systems are not designed to keep them safe.

“Systems assumed I had control, when I didn’t”

For Lula Dembele, General Manager Lived Experience and Innovation and Head of the Audacity Centre at Good Shepherd, the issue is both professional and deeply personal.

“Personally, I am a survivor of child sexual abuse and domestic violence, including financial abuse,” she says. “Experiencing abuse so young fundamentally shaped how I understand the world, power, violence and safety.”

Her work today sits at the intersection of policy, financial systems and lived experience. What she sees repeatedly is not intentional harm but structural blindness.

“Processes assumed I had full control over my finances and decision making, when in reality I didn’t,” she explains.

In one instance, her children were removed from a health insurance policy without her knowledge. In another, she received letters pressuring her to pursue child support, despite the risks that could pose.

“What stood out was not usually malice, but rigidity; systems designed for an ‘ideal’ customer who has time, safety, privacy, and autonomy.”

When those assumptions collapse, the consequences are real: missed support, financial penalties, or processes that feel “interrogative or dismissive”.

For many women, this is where the harm compounds.

Abuse that doesn’t end when the relationship does

Financial abuse is rarely a single act. It is a pattern, often embedded in coercive control. It can include debts taken out in someone else’s name, restricted access to money, or the misuse of financial products and insurance policies.

Rebecca Miller, Head of Philanthropy and Engagement at the Zahra Foundation, sees the long-term impact every day.

“One of the big things we see is women coming to us with debt they didn’t create," she says. "It’s been put in their name by a perpetrator, and we support them to navigate that and have it removed so they can actually start again.”

The consequences stretch far beyond the relationship itself. “Debt, damaged credit and lost assets can affect housing, employment and safety for years,” Dembele confirms.

In addition, Miller explains that for many women, the barrier to leaving is stark: “For many women, a major barrier to leaving is the fear of what comes next," she says. "It can feel like a choice between staying or facing poverty or homelessness.

"We’re now seeing women 55-plus are the fastest growing cohort experiencing homelessness this is a very real and growing concern.”

Others have never had financial autonomy. “There are women who have never opened a bank account," Miller says. "They've been given an allowance, expected to return receipts and every cent of change. It’s total control.”

This is the reality insurers are increasingly encountering, not always visibly, but often embedded in customer behaviour.

The signals are there but easy to miss

There is no single profile of a woman experiencing financial abuse. “There’s no one common thread,” Miller agrees. “It’s women from all walks of life, but what we do see is a consistent pattern of ongoing control, isolation and loss of independence.”

For insurers, the challenge is recognising these patterns without making assumptions. Dembele points to subtle cues: customers who are difficult to contact, hesitant to answer questions, unable to access documents, or unusually anxious about costs or policy changes.

Miller adds that watching for behavioural shifts can be helpful. For example, someone else speaking for the customer, policies taken out without their full awareness, or noticeable changes in confidence and engagement.

“These cues don’t confirm abuse,” Dembele says. “But they can signal that something else is going on.”

The risk is not missing a diagnosis. It is missing the context.

The problem with “vulnerable customers”

Both women challenge one of the industry’s most common labels: vulnerability.

“I’m cautious about the term ‘vulnerable customer’,” Dembele says.

“Vulnerability is not a personal trait. It’s a set of circumstances.”

Labelling can unintentionally create distance. It risks framing the issue as something inherent to the person, rather than something happening to them.

“Instead of asking ‘what’s wrong with you?’ we should be asking ‘what has happened to you?’” she explains.

This shift is more than semantic. It changes how systems respond and recognises that people move in and out of vulnerability. That someone can be financially literate and still have no control over their finances. That capability does not equal safety.

For insurers, it means designing for variability, not exception.

“Don’t tell her what to do”

If there is one consistent message from women, it is this: how you speak matters.

“Women quite often tell us that they just want to be listened to and heard,” Miller says. “Not have another person telling them what’s best for them.”

In practice, that means slowing down. It means asking, not directing. It means recognising that disengagement may be a form of self-protection, not non-compliance.

“Never ever tell a woman what to do,” Miller emphasises. “In many parts of her life, she’s already being controlled.

"What matters most is listening to what she needs and responding in a way that keeps her safe.”

Dembele reinforces this through a trauma-informed lens: interactions should restore choice and agency, not replicate control.

That can be as simple and as powerful as explaining confidentiality clearly, offering options instead of instructions, and allowing the customer to set the pace.

“A simple, well phrased question, asked privately and safely, can make a significant difference.”

The goal is not to extract information. It is to create safety.

When products become tools of abuse

Beyond frontline interactions, there is a deeper issue: design. Insurance products are built on assumptions about shared control, good faith and straightforward decision-making.

But those assumptions can be exploited. “I have seen how assumptions of people acting in good faith enable financial abuse,” Dembele says.

Examples include unilateral policy changes, claims redirection, or joint policy structures that allow one party to exert control over another.

Miller is direct: “Have a look at your products and your processes. Could they be weaponised?”

Privacy is another critical risk. Perpetrators may attempt to access information such as addresses or contact details through legitimate channels.

“Strong safeguards and awareness across all teams can make a real difference in keeping women safe,” she says.

This is where the industry has a unique opportunity; not just to respond to abuse, but to prevent it.

From barrier to stabiliser

At its best, insurance is a stabilising force. It protects assets. It enables recovery. It reduces financial stress at moments of crisis.

But for women experiencing domestic and financial abuse, it can also become another barrier; another system to navigate without control.

The difference lies in design, training and intent. “The insurance sector has a real opportunity to support victims’ recovery rather than presenting another barrier,” Dembele says.

That includes embedding financial safety into products, partnering with specialist organisations and ensuring staff are equipped to respond with confidence.

It also means recognising that perfection is not the goal. “Victim survivors don’t expect perfection,” she says. “What they want is to be seen, to be safe, and to have their reality understood.”

When that happens, the impact can be profound. “It can be life changing.”

A practical checklist for insurers

To move from awareness to action, insurers can take clear, practical steps:

Design and product

• Review products, policies and processes for features that could be misused for control
• Address high-risk areas such as joint policies, unilateral changes and claims payments
• Embed “financial safety by design” through co-design with victim survivors

Customer interactions

• Use strengths-based, non-judgemental language
• Ask open, respectful questions focused on context, not compliance
• Offer clear options and allow customers to retain control over decisions
• Explain confidentiality and safe contact preferences transparently

Systems and culture

• Invest in trauma-informed training grounded in lived experience
• Build clear escalation and referral pathways for staff
• Remove punitive or unsafe requirements from scripts, forms and processes
• Partner with specialist organisations to strengthen support pathways

Governance and leadership

• Treat vulnerability as situational and dynamic, not a fixed label
• Embed accountability for customer outcomes across leadership and culture
• Align prevention of abuse with long-term recovery and trust

A shared responsibility

Demand for support is rising. At Zahra Foundation alone, it has increased by almost 50% in the past year. That demand reflects both growing awareness and the scale of unmet need.

For the insurance industry, the role is clear. Not just to respond. But to redesign. To listen. To remove friction where it causes harm. And to recognise that behind every policy is a person whose safety may depend on how the system responds.

ANZIIF will support this work through fundraising for the Zahra Foundation at the South Australia Charity Luncheon on 29 May, helping expand services that enable women to rebuild financial independence and create safer futures.

Register Now to start the process

Work with Good Shepherd for lived‑experience training, policy audits, to embed Safety by Design into your products and implementation support.

Start learning today