When Julie Dal Pra thinks about the complex issue of economic abuse, it is often fraud, deception and manipulation that come to mind.
As a small business financial counsellor at community health service Each, Dal Pra sees many instances of the unlawful control of money and finances, ranging from signing someone up as a director of a company without their knowledge to lodging a false income tax return.
“I often say this kind of financial abuse is hidden in plain sight,” Dal Pra says.
This includes moving assets or money around, putting liabilities in the victim’s name while the perpetrator keeps the assets and income in their own name, or taking the money but reporting it under someone else’s name, Dal Pra says.
“Taking…