Financial Abuse Service NSW

We provide free legal advice and support to people across NSW who have money problems or family law issues as a result of financial abuse.

On this page

What is financial abuse?

Financial abuse is a form of family and domestic violence. It is a pattern of abuse where money is used as a form of power or control. Financial abuse often occurs in intimate partner relationships. 

Financial abuse can happen to anyone, regardless of age, income or financial capability.

About this service

Our service offers free and confidential advice to people in NSW experiencing money problems because of financial abuse.

We can advise you if your partner has:

  • taken out debts in your name
  • borrowed money from you they have not paid back
  • pressured you to take out loans or sign personal guarantees
  • opened an account in your name without your permission
  • made you a director of a company that they control
  • accrued traffic or parking fines in your name

We can also help you if:

  • you want to fix information on your credit report because of financial abuse
  • your credit score was damaged because of financial abuse 
  • you are considering bankruptcy because your partner put you in debt

We can also give you advice about financial family law matters, such as:   

  • dividing assets and debts in a property settlement 
  • spousal maintenance 
  • child support 
  • Family Court orders

Please note: our family law assistance is limited. We prioritise people who do not have legal representation and are not able to access family law advice elsewhere.  

How we can help: Sandra's* story

How to contact us

You can ask for a free telephone interpreter if you need one. If you leave a voicemail, please tell us your name and how we can safely contact you.

online form call 0481 730 344
 

If we can’t help solve your legal or non-legal problem, we will try to refer you to another service that can.

We welcome referrals from community workers. Call us and we will be happy to discuss if we can help.

Training and resources

Click here to access our many resources on financial abuse in intimate partner relationships, including recordings of our training webinars, legal tools, fact sheets and research.

Our webinars are valuable to all community workers and volunteers in services such as financial counselling, domestic violence, women's refuges and community legal centres. Some examples relate to NSW, but most of the content is applicable Australia-wide. Most of our webinar recordings are available to watch on-demand. Register for upcoming webinars here.

Other services that can help

Domestic violence services

Housing and homelessness

Financial counselling services

Family law services

Law reform

We work to improve outcomes for financial abuse victim-survivors and ensure that financial abuse is recognised and addressed by the government and industry. Our change-making work is supported by Ecstra Foundation.

RLC coordinates the NSW chapter of the Economic Abuse Reference Group (EARG). 

 

Papers and submissions

The Economic Abuse Reference Group (EARG) welcomes the release of the Exposure Draft Treasury Laws Amendment Bill 2024: Buy Now Pay Later (the Bill) and the Exposure Draft National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Low Cost Credit) Regulations 2024 (the Regulations).
Papers and submissions

Feedback provided to the Attorney General’s Department (AGD) on amending the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (Family Law Act) with a view to introducing law and procedures that prioritise safety, clarity and efficiency in family law proceedings.

Service supported by

The Financial Abuse Service NSW is funded by the NSW Government through the Community Legal Centres Program administered by Legal Aid NSW. 

The service is a proud partner of CommBank Next Chapter and also supported by the Financial Counselling Foundation. 

Ecstra Foundation, provide a grant for policy, law reform and capacity-building work.

© Redfern Legal Centre 1977 - 2022

Gadigal Land, PO Box 1805,
Strawberry Hills NSW 2012