On 30 June 2026, Bronwyn Davis, FCVic’s Family Violence Lead, joined a panel at the Family Violence Reform Advisory Group to discuss a pattern financial counsellors see every day: the social security system being used as a tool of coercive control. Drawing on frontline casework from across Victoria, Bronwyn’s presentation examines how the person using violence can weaponise Centrelink, Child Support and MyGov to create debt, cut off income and prolong financial dependence, both during a relationship and long after separation. Below is a written version of her remarks.

Question 

Can you speak to the intersection between family violence and the social security system, where it is used as a tool to perpetuate family violence? 

Introduction 

I would like to Acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands were meeting on today and pay my respects to elders past and present. I travelled from beautiful Yorta Yorta country to be here today.  

I’m Bronwyn Davis, Family Violence Lead at Financial Counselling Victoria, or FCVic. We’re the peak body and professional association for more than 300 financial counsellors across Victoria. 

Today I’ll be speaking about what financial counsellors are seeing every day in practice. 

What financial counsellors are seeing is that these systems aren’t always neutral. They can be, and regularly are, weaponised by the person using violence (PUV) to maintain control after separation. 

The issue isn’t simply that PUVs misuse the system. It’s that many parts of the system rely on the PUV acting honestly, reporting accurately, or cooperating appropriately. Whenever a system relies on a PUV doing the right thing, it creates opportunities for coercive control. 

This isn’t safety by design. 

Why does social security matter? 

When I talk about social security today, please remember that none of this happens in isolation. Victim-survivors are often navigating legal proceedings, housing instability, parenting arrangements, what we’ve heard from my peers up here today. All while trying to keep themselves and their children safe. 

So, as you listen to today’s discussion, imagine trying to manage all of that while also receiving a notification that your Centrelink payments have been suspended and you suddenly have no income. 

Access to social security is a fundamental human right. It should function as a safety net, but too often, it becomes another area for abuse.  

Access to income is a protective factor for victim-survivors. It’s not just about money. At FCVic we believe social security should provide certainty during crisis, not create another one.  

It’s about whether someone can pay the rent, buy food, keep the lights on, get their children to school and maintain the financial independence needed to leave a violent relationship. 

Without financial security, victim-survivors remain at risk of ongoing violence and economic abuse. So when we talk about systems abuse, we’re talking about structural settings that create opportunities for coercive control.  

How is the social security system weaponised? 

Financial counsellors are seeing very consistent patterns. This isn’t an exhaustive list. 

During the relationship we commonly see PUVs: 

• hiding or misreporting income knowing it will later create a debt in the victim-survivor’s name.  

• forcing the victim-survivor to apply for payments they aren’t eligible for, or the financial control putting them in the position to, leaving the victim-survivor with the debt later or at risk of being referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. 

• controlling MyGov accounts, intercepting payments and communications. 

After separation we commonly see PUVs: 

• falsely reporting income to Child Support. For example, reporting their income as zero, then later lodging a tax return, resulting in Centrelink overpayments and debts in the victim-survivor’s name 

• falsely reporting care arrangements for the children knowing this can immediately reduce or stop a victim-survivors income. 

Whether it occurs during or after the relationship we also see PUVs deliberately delay or fail to lodge tax returns creating or prolonging Centrelink debts, reducing child support, delaying access to income the victim-survivor relies on.  

These are not administrative errors. They are deliberate tactics of coercive control that use government systems to continue the abuse.  The tactics change but the goal remains the same, to use government systems to remove financial independence, interrupt access to income and create debt and maintain coercive control. 

But it’s important to recognise that systems abuse isn’t limited to where a PUV actively manipulates the system. Victim-survivors also lose access to income because the realities of escaping or living with violence make it impossible to engage with the system in the way it expects.  

Financial counsellors regularly see victim-survivors unable to report to Centrelink or complete required tasks because they’re fleeing violence, relocating, attending court, dealing with police, just trying simply to keep themselves and their children safe. The consequence can be immediate payment suspension not because they’re unwilling to comply but because they’re surviving the family violence.  

For victim-survivors in regional and rural areas, these barriers can be even greater with limited transport, poor phone reception and fewer safer ways to contact Services Australia.  

What is the impact? 

Using systems to control access to income and create debts in a victim-survivors name is one of the most powerful forms of systems abuse that financial counsellors see.  

Once a Centrelink debt is raised, repayment moratoriums are often only granted for short periods, resolution processes such as debt waivers are lengthy and complex, and navigating them frequently requires both a financial counsellor and a community legal centre specialising in social security such as Social Security Rights Victoria. 

Often by the time someone comes to a financial counsellor, we’ve already been working to address the financial abuse. 

We may have applied for debt waivers with creditors, stopped debt collection, prevented an eviction or utility disconnection, and started rebuilding some financial stability. 

Then, in the middle of that crisis, they lose access to their Centrelink payment.  

Overnight, months of progress can be undone.  

Suddenly they can’t pay the rent. 

They can’t buy food.  

They can’t afford to get the kids to school.  

They can’t afford medication or fuel to attend court or appointments. 

Instead of continuing the work of recovering from financial abuse, everything shifts back into crisis. 

Financial counsellors and victim-survivors can then spend hours on the phone with Services Australia, and contacting multiple support agencies simply to restore access to income. 

Only then can we return to dealing with the rent arrears, utilities, debt collection, housing instability and financial abuse that brought them to us in the first place. 

You shouldn’t need a financial counsellor or a community lawyer just to safely access income support. When debts are wrongly raised against victim-survivors, they reinforce blame and become an ongoing reminder of the abuse.  

What’s creating these opportunities for weaponisation? 

Many parts of our social security system are built on assumptions about intimate relationships that don’t reflect everyone’s reality. 

One of those assumptions is that entering an intimate relationship should change a person’s independent access to income. For example, someone receiving Disability Support Pension may have their payment reduced or cancelled because the system assumes their partner’s income is available to them. Yet if that same person lived with a friend or family member, they could retain their own independent income.  

The policy effectively says that entering an intimate relationship should reduce a person’s   independent access to income by making them financially reliant on their partner.  

That creates financial dependence even in healthy relationships. Where family violence and coercive control exist, it creates opportunities for financial abuse.  

What sits behind all these examples is that the systems rely on the PUV doing the right thing.  

When access to income depends on a partner accurately reporting their income… 

When a PUV can report inaccurate care arrangements that immediately affect a victim-survivors income…. 

When someone else’s actions can determine whether you receive income… 

We’ve created opportunities for coercive control. 

This isn’t about blaming individual staff. The issue isn’t individual decision-making. It’s the policy settings that create opportunities for abuse in the first place.  

It’s about recognising that systems designed without family violence in mind can unintentionally become tools of abuse. While family violence exemptions and pathways are important and exist, this isn’t simply about adding a family violence exemption after the fact. Many victim-survivors do not disclose family violence, don’t yet identify what they’re experiencing as family violence, or can’t safely identify themselves to a government agency while still living with the PUV.  

Safety by design means removing opportunities for abuse and building safety into the system from the start. 

It’s not expecting victim-survivors to rely on exemptions after the harm has occurred, or on PUV choosing not to abuse them (the victim-survivor). 

Access to income should never depend on the cooperation of the person causing harm. 

Conclusion 

This isn’t about exceptional cases. Financial counsellors see these patterns every day.  As long as access to income depends on the cooperation, honesty and participation of the PUV there will always be opportunity for systems abuse.   

Social security should be the pathway to safety and financial independence. A safety net shouldn’t fail when someone is experiencing the very crisis it exists to respond to.   

The question isn’t whether PUVs will exploit those opportunities, we know they will.  

The question is whether we’re prepared to design those opportunities out of the system.   

About the Speaker  

Bronwyn Davis is the Family Violence Lead at Financial Counselling Victoria, the peak body and professional association for financial counsellors in Victoria. With more than 10 years’ experience as a financial counsellor specialising in family violence, Bronwyn’s work focuses on economic abuse, systems abuse and strengthening systemic responses to improve outcomes for victim-survivors. She is passionate about translating frontline practice into policy and driving system systemic reform that reduces opportunities for abuse while supporting victim-survivors’ long term safety, recovery and financial independence. 

In her role at Financial Counselling Victoria, Bronwyn provides strategic leadership to strengthen financial counselling responses to family violence across Victoria. She works alongside financial counsellors to develop best practice guidance, resources and professional development, while contributing to policy, systemic advocacy, and cross-sector collaboration to improve responses to victim-survivors.  

Continue the Conversation 

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in the panel presentation, collaborate or invite Bronwyn to speak with your organisation about financial counselling, she would love to hear from you at [email protected].