The first evaluation of Good Shepherd NZ’s new Economic Harm Support Service has found that people experiencing family violence face serious financial challenges and require specialist support.

Clients of the service have been subjected to threats, such as removing access to children and physical or sexual violence, as a way of controlling their access to money. Clients are often left paying for 100% of a joint debt because abusive ex-partners refuse to pay.

Protection Orders, provided by the Courts to prevent further harm, are regularly ignored by creditors, who insist that clients contact their violent ex-partners to get agreement on hardship provisions, and to resolve disputes on shared debts.

The report also found that government processes can be manipulated by people perpetrating abuse and can create hardship by requiring victims to bear the financial cost of becoming safe.

"In the case of safety due to family violence, some clients have to move and restart life somewhere new. MSD will loan money, but it is almost always recoverable," explained one participant.

The report found that people trying to leave their partners face additional safety risks when trying to sort their banking - creditors have contacted the other party to relay a client’s intention to separate finances and inadvertently revealed their intention to leave. Leaving a relationship is one of the most dangerous times for someone experiencing violence.

A lack of financial security creates additional risks to safety - without being able to afford a phone or a car, a client’s ability to enact an appropriate safety plan is affected.

Good Shepherd NZ’s Head of Purpose & Impact, Nicola Eccleton, says people are paying the cost of being victims of violence. "Our clients are paying the perpetrator’s debts, they are paying off the damage perpetrators cause to property, and they are paying debts taken out under fear of violence. And in the meantime, they struggle to rent a home because their credit history is damaged, and creditors are telling them they have to make contact with their violent ex to agree to changes to their banking facilities."

The evaluation looked at Good Shepherd NZ’s Economic Harm Support Service, which was piloted to test the demand for specialist support. The service was developed based on previous research that identified a gap in services to address economic harm and was designed to complement existing family violence and financial mentoring services.

Several ‘early adopters’ in the financial sector have supported this service by engaging with Good Shepherd NZ to better understand the needs of their customers and consider how they might respond more appropriately. All the businesses that participated in the evaluation said they had changed the way they think about customer hardship when it comes to economic harm.

Eccleton says, "People subjected to years of violence leave the support of family violence agencies to start over, with thousands of dollars of debt, a poor credit rating and financial ties to their ex. A significant number of people return to violent relationships because of the financial pressure. We need to provide this additional layer of specialist support to give them a decent shot at a violence-free future."

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