The warning signs you’re on the pathway to financial abuse
The telltale signs of financial control are not always obvious at the start. Here’s how to guard against them
4 min
It can be insidious, its victims hard to spot and it happens at all levels of society. Men, women, young, old, poor, affluent — financial abuse victims come from all walks of life. We only have to look at the most high profile case in the world — Britney Spears — to see evidence.
Statistics reveal that the average victim is a woman in her 40s or 50s with little or no access to employment and poor health outcomes.
But an increasing number of Australians are falling victim to financial abuse. In Australia, more than 623,000 men and women were subjected to financial abuse in 2020 — that is one in 30 women, or one in 50 men, according to the Commonwealth Bank’s Cost of Financial Abuse in Australia report.
Put simply, financial abuse is a form of family violence which occurs when one person exploits or controls another person’s financial resources. It most commonly takes the shape of a victim having money withheld or controlled by a partner, a victim made liable for joint debts, or even a victim being prevented from being able to work or further their education.
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And it can happen to anyone, says financial wellness coach, Betsy Westcott, who states up to 40 percent of Australians will experience it or know someone who has experienced it.
“There was a lady I once saw from Mosman — a suburb which on the surface has all the trappings of wealth and prosperity,” Westcott recounts. “She drove a Range Rover and lived in a lovely house but after she and her husband had their first child, she was made redundant while on maternity leave and her husband told her ‘Don’t worry about a new role, I’ll look after everything.’
“It turned out she always had to ask her husband for money because she had no access to the household accounts and she had to account for every last cent she spent. In the end, when she tried to leave the marriage, their account had been drained and all the debt was in her name.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re smart or educated, we all have vulnerabilities.”
But just because financial abuse is prevalent — and has become more so since the pandemic and the onset of the cost of living crisis with financial situations becoming more tenuous — it doesn’t mean you can’t safeguard against it.
Heidi Reid is the executive director of strategic engagement at Berry Street, a child and family services charity whose mission includes educating adults to build money management skills.
Reid says a money-smart education should start in early childhood to create a generation resilient to financial abuse.
“Financial literacy education can build knowledge, confidence and skills to help people make informed decisions and manage their finances and their future,” Reid says. “Financial literacy…is appropriate for people at any age and life stage, and many experts recommend introducing basic concepts to children and young people early on. By incorporating age-appropriate discussions and activities, children can develop a foundational understanding of money and financial principles.
“Parents, guardians, and educators can tailor these conversations to the individual child’s maturity level and experiences. The goal is to build a gradual understanding of financial concepts and responsible money management as children grow.”
Laura Higgins, senior executive of ASIC’s MoneySmart, says there are eight main financial abuse warnings signs to look out for in a partner.
1. Controlling access to common accounts
2. Not providing enough money for living expenses
3. Trying to prevent you from working or studying
4. Taking out debts in your name or exerting pressure on you to sign up for loans
5. Making you account for how you spend your money
6. Selling or threatening to sell property without permission
7. Hiding money from you
8. Making you feel like you’re financially incompetent
Westcott adds that financial abuse can look different at different stages of life, particularly for women, whose vulnerabilities change with the decades. In your 20s it can be a partner pressuring you to take a loan out in your name; in your 30s it can be a partner who encourages you not to return to work after the birth of a child; in your 40s it can be the removal of assets in your name so you are trapped in a relationship; in your 50s and beyond it can be vulnerability from poor super accumulation and job prospects.
But she warns it doesn’t just affect women.
“When it comes to men being the victim, it can generally (but not always) look a little different,” Westcott says. “Consider scenarios where a man is coerced into paying for things to sustain a certain lifestyle and messages of love mixed with guilt, like “If you loved me” type of threats. It’s generally more about being pressured to financially over commit and then sometimes being left with unpaid loans.
“And it’s even harder to see when it happens to men because society holds men accountable for finances and so under reporting is a big problem.”
Either way, experts agree the best way to protect yourself is to have good financial literacy.
“To protect yourself you should stay informed and actively involved in your financial matters, being aware of your income, expenses and assets,” Reid says. “Financial literacy education can build knowledge, confidence and skills to help people make informed decisions and manage their finances and their future.”
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The lunar flyby would be the deepest humans have traveled in space in decades.
4 min
It’s go time for the highest-stakes mission at NASA in more than 50 years.
On April 1, the agency is set to launch four astronauts around the moon, the deepest human spaceflight since the final Apollo lunar landing in 1972.
The launch window for Artemis II , as the mission is called, opens at 6:24 p.m. ET.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration teams have been preparing the vehicles to depart from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on the planned roughly 10-day trip. Crew members have trained for years for this moment.
Reid Wiseman, the NASA astronaut serving as mission commander, said he doesn’t fear taking the voyage. A widower, he does worry at times about what he is putting his daughters through.
“I could have a very comfortable life for them,” Wiseman said in an interview last September.
“But I’m also a human, and I see the spirit in their eyes that is burning in my soul too. And so we’ve just got to never stop going.”
Wiseman’s crewmates on Artemis II are NASA’s Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
What are the goals for Artemis II?
The biggest one: Safely fly the crew on vehicles that have never carried astronauts before.
The towering Space Launch System rocket has the job of lofting a vehicle called Orion into space and on its way to the moon.
Orion is designed to carry the crew around the moon and back. Myriad systems on the ship—life support, communications, navigation—will be tested with the astronauts on board.
SLS and Orion don’t have much flight experience. The vehicles last flew in 2022, when the agency completed its uncrewed Artemis I mission .
How is the mission expected to unfold?
Artemis II will begin when SLS takes off from a launchpad in Florida with Orion stacked on top of it.
The so-called upper stage of SLS will later separate from the main part of the rocket with Orion attached, and use its engine to set up the latter vehicle for a push to the moon.
After Orion separates from the upper stage, it will conduct what is called a translunar injection—the engine firing that commits Orion to soaring out to the moon. It will fly to the moon over the course of a few days and travel around its far side.
Orion will face a tough return home after speeding through space. As it hits Earth’s atmosphere, Orion will be flying at 25,000 miles an hour and face temperatures of 5,000 degrees as it slows down. The capsule is designed to land under parachutes in the Pacific Ocean, not far from San Diego.
Is it possible Artemis II will be delayed?
Yes.
For safety reasons, the agency won’t launch if certain tough weather conditions roll through the Cape Canaveral, Fla., area. Delays caused by technical problems are possible, too. NASA has other dates identified for the mission if it doesn’t begin April 1.
Who are the astronauts flying on Artemis II?
The crew will be led by Wiseman, a retired Navy pilot who completed military deployments before joining NASA’s astronaut corps. He traveled to the International Space Station in 2014.
Two other astronauts will represent NASA during the mission: Glover, an experienced Navy pilot, and Koch, who began her career as an electrical engineer for the agency and once spent a year at a research station in the South Pole. Both have traveled to the space station before.
Hansen is a military pilot who joined Canada’s astronaut corps in 2009. He will be making his first trip to space.
Koch’s participation in Artemis II will mark the first time a woman has flown beyond orbits near Earth. Glover and Hansen will be the first African-American and non-American astronauts, respectively, to do the same.
What will the astronauts do during the flight?
The astronauts will evaluate how Orion flies, practice emergency procedures and capture images of the far side of the moon for scientific and exploration purposes (they may become the first humans to see parts of the far side of the lunar surface). Health-tracking projects of the astronauts are designed to inform future missions.
Those efforts will play out in Orion’s crew module, which has about two minivans worth of living area.
On board, the astronauts will spend about 30 minutes a day exercising, using a device that allows them to do dead lifts, rowing and more. Sleep will come in eight-hour stretches in hammocks.
There is a custom-made warmer for meals, with beef brisket and veggie quiche on the menu.
Each astronaut is permitted two flavored beverages a day, including coffee. The crew will hold one hourlong shared meal each day.
The Universal Waste Management System—that’s the toilet—uses air flow to pull fluid and solid waste away into containers.
What happens after Artemis II?
Assuming it goes well, NASA will march on to Artemis III, scheduled for next year. During that operation, NASA plans to launch Orion with crew members on board and have the ship practice docking with lunar-lander vehicles that Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have been developing. The rendezvous operations will occur relatively close to Earth.
NASA hopes that its contractors and the agency itself are ready to attempt one or more lunar landing missions in 2028. Many current and former spaceflight officials are skeptical that timeline is feasible.
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