Financial Counselling Victoria has lodged a submission to the Australian Government Treasury consultation on combatting financial abuse through coerced directorships, endorsing the Economic Abuse Reference Group’s reform directions. The submission is supported by Financial Counselling Queensland and the Financial Counsellors’ Association of Western Australia.

Drawing on the experience of Victorian financial counsellors, the submission highlights how coerced appointments saddle victim‑survivors with complex corporate and tax liabilities and calls for survivor‑centred, practical reforms. These include a trauma‑informed administrative pathway at ASIC to remove non‑consenting or coerced directors, the option to resign directly to the regulator where coercion is established, a broader scope across business structures, and national funding for small‑business financial counselling casework to make reforms effective in practice and strengthen the integrity of corporate and tax systems.