Review into the identification and management of financial abuse within the tax system

Financial abuse can happen to anyone. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that 1 in 6 women (16% or 1.6 million women) and 1 in 13 men (7.8% or 745,000 men) have experienced economic abuse by an intimate partner. Financial abuse can occur through many different types of practices, including weaponisation of the tax system. The impacts on victim-survivors (and their families) can be devastating and long lasting, with substantial financial burdens and ongoing instability and stress caused by debts they did not personally incur.

We have conducted this review because more needs to be done to understand how the tax system is being weaponised and what action is required from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to address it and provide appropriate support and remediation for those affected.