Strengthening women’s economic safety

Economic abuse is often experienced at the same time as family, domestic or sexual violence, but it’s not as well understood. It involves restricting or exploiting a person’s money, food, transport or housing in a way that threatens their economic security.

Australians are less sure where to turn for support for economic abuse compared to other forms of abuse, even though more than 1 in 3 Australians have experienced some form of economic restriction at the hands of their partner, according to recent research.

The Sax Institute is helping to strengthen services addressing economic abuse. We’ve recently helped demonstrate the impactful work of The Centre for Women’s Economic Safety (CWES), a not-for-profit organisation that supports women, non-binary and gender diverse people experiencing economic abuse or financial hardship in the context of family, domestic and sexual violence.

CWES runs Money Clinics, an initiative that provides free financial safety planning and information with a female financial specialist for those experiencing economic abuse or financial hardship as a result of domestic and family violence.

Money Clinics services clients online around Australia as well as offering mobile in-person sessions in Sydney, the Illawarra region and Melbourne.

The Sax Institute evaluated the Money Clinics, based primarily on client surveys, along with a focus group with the financial counsellors and case studies.

Rebecca Glenn, Founder and CEO of the Centre for Women’s Economic Safety, said this evaluation report is integral to the ongoing success of the program. “It’s vital we understand the impact we’re having, not only to be able to report to funders but also to know whether or not we’re on the right track and how we can make our Money Clinic service more effective.”

The evaluation reported that Money Clinics are successfully reaching and meeting the previously unmet needs of a culturally diverse client group.

The program received overwhelmingly positive feedback from clients. One client said: “I was given hope and received encouragement to take steps… there is someone beside you to guide you, someone who can explain things and will be there for you.”

Survey responses also showed statistically significant pre-clinic to post-clinic increases in clients’ self-ratings across six key financial capability indicators.

Findings from the evaluation helped influence the re-funding of the program, with the survey instruments used for the evaluation informing CWES’ own client management system. The Sax Institute has also been re-commissioned by CWES to conduct a two-year evaluation of the program and publish a peer-reviewed journal article on findings.

“We’ve really valued the collaborative working relationship with the team at Sax Institute and can now feel confident we’re positively supporting women’s economic safety,” said Ms Glenn.

Dr Alice Knight, the Sax Institute’s Director, Evaluation and Evidence Services said this evaluation is a great example of the diversification of her team’s work over the past 12 months.

“We’ve shown that we can master content across multiple complex areas and work collaboratively with community-based organisations such as CWES to strengthen their service offerings and demonstrate their impact.”

Read the evaluation report for Money Clinics here.

Find out more about the Sax Institute’s evaluation services here.