Webinar: Policy levers to address economic insecurity – Part 2

Financial abuse is an often under-reported aspect of domestic and family violence.

It can have devastating consequences for women, often lasting for decades. And for women who are not subject to tactics of financial abuse, the economic impact of domestic and family violence can still be immense. Policies across the social security, banking, gambling, housing and homelessness, and domestic and family violence systems aim to address these issues. However, these policies are found to both alleviate and exacerbate stressors.

The expert panel will continue their conversation featured in the ANROWS conference, discussing next steps and addressing the difficulties faced by women experiencing violence and economic insecurity. The discussion will be facilitated by Hayley Boxall (Research Manager, Violence against Women and Children Research, Australian Institute of Criminology) with:

• Leanne Ho, Executive Officer, Economic Justice Australia
• Moo Baulch, Director of Primary Prevention, Women’s and Girls’ Emergency Centre (WAGEC) and advisor to CommBank’s Next Chapter financial abuse program
• Dr Anna Thomas, Gambling researcher and Principal, Anna Thomas Consulting.

There will also be a live Q&A.

This webinar is designed for:

• policymakers, practice design decision-makers, practitioners and researchers working in domestic and family violence, gambling harm and financial counselling services.

The webinar is open to anyone and free to attend. A recording of the webinar will also be available on the ANROWS website.

Delegates of the ANROWS National Research Conference, “Evidence in Action”, can access Part 1 of the conversation on the conference website.

Enquiries: [email protected]

WATCH

Presenters

Leanne Ho
Executive Officer, Economic Justice Australia

Leanne Ho is a human rights lawyer and leader in the community and pro bono legal sectors. She is the executive officer of Economic Justice Australia which has made wide-ranging recommendations on how the Australian social security system can be improved for people experiencing domestic and family violence. Leanne also works as a pro bono consultant to law firm Wotton + Kearney’s Community Footprint Program which focuses on providing pro bono legal assistance to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, including people experiencing domestic and family violence, people seeking asylum in Australia and refugees. She has previously worked as the legal adviser to United Nations peacekeeping missions and its Human Rights Advisory Panel.

Moo Baulch
Director of Primary Prevention, Women’s and Girls’ Emergency Centre (WAGEC) and advisor to CommBank’s Next Chapter financial abuse program

Moo is a social justice and gender equality leader with a career-long commitment to addressing and preventing violence against women and LGBTQ people and campaigning for human rights, social inclusion and peace in Australia, the United Kingdom, Spain and South-East Asia. Moo is best known for leading peak body DVNSW through an era of significant change amid growing public interest in the issue of gendered violence from 2014 to 2019.

In 2020, as head of Customer Vulnerability at CommBank, Moo supported the development of the first trauma-informed customer support team in an Australian financial institution and continues to provide advice on the development of their Next Chapter financial abuse initiative.
Moo is the director of Primary Prevention at Women’s and Girls’ Emergency Centre (WAGEC) in Redfern, Sydney. Moo speaks fluent Spanish, is a proud queer parent to two young children and lives on Gadigal land that was never ceded.

Dr Anna Thomas
Principal and Founder, Anna Thomas Consulting

Dr Anna Thomas is a research impact specialist and an active researcher in the field of gambling and other addictions. She has two decades of experience in the field of gambling with a particular focus on the interaction between psychosocial and environmental factors on the development of gambling problems.

Dr Thomas is passionate about the need to translate research evidence to inform policy and practice change. Dr Thomas does this personally in the area of gambling and supports others to consider how to achieve impact in the real world through effective translation techniques.

Facilitated by:
Hayley Boxall
Research Manager, Violence against Women and Children Research Program, Australian Institute of Criminology

Since joining the AIC 10 years ago, Hayley has published extensively in the areas of domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) and child abuse and neglect, with a primary focus on the offending and reoffending patterns of DFSV offenders, the impact of natural disasters on DFSV, adolescent family violence and domestic violence desistance processes. She has also been involved in the evaluation of a range of government-funded programs, such as the Adolescent Family Violence Program, the “Preventing Violence against Women in our Community” project and restorative justice approaches to DFSV. Hayley is a PhD candidate at the Australian National University. Her thesis focuses on factors associated with domestic violence desistance processes.