Managing financial stress

Every day we see the combined impact of rising interest rates and soaring food, fuel and energy prices, leaving more people facing financial hardship. Adult children are increasingly leaning on their parents for financial support, which can place older people under more financial stress – and even at risk of elder abuse.

Recognising financial elder abuse

We now know that 1 in 6 older people have experienced elder abuse1. Financial abuse is a form of elder abuse, one that is poorly understood and often not identified – even by those experiencing or perpetrating the abuse. It can take many forms, including:

• family or friends pressuring the older person into giving or loaning money, possessions (such as jewellery) or property

• taking money, possessions or property without the older person’s permission

• not contributing to household expenses such as rent, food or household expenses while living with the older person

• pressuring the older person to make or change their will

• making financial decisions for the older person without their permission.

Difficulties with seeking financial help

Older people are often afraid to report abuse because they fear the repercussions both for themselves and for the person mistreating them, who is usually an adult child or other close relative. Equally important, they may imagine and worry about other negative outcomes, such as:

• fear of losing contact with children and grandchildren

• becoming more isolated and lonelier

• being made to leave their home, enter residential care or becoming homeless

• fear of retaliation from the person using violence

• feelings of guilt if the perpetrator is their child

• feelings of shame by disclosing family issues to the wider community

• feeling misunderstood or not believed as perpetrator appears to be a trusted carer

All these fears combined can be a real barrier to getting help, and an older person may endure abuse for a long time. They may only seek help when the situation becomes extreme or when someone else notices the ongoing mistreatment.

How can financial counsellors help older people?

If you are an older person, a financial counsellor can help you with managing financial stress. Financial counsellors are qualified professionals who provide free, confidential and independent support and advocacy to people experiencing, or at risk of, financial hardship.

Mostly based in non-profit agencies, they are qualified, specially trained professionals who can help to relieve your financial confusion and stress. They work under credit licence and financial services licence exemptions that allow them to access financial information and negotiate with creditors on your behalf.

They will focus on you and your particular strengths, listen to your story, and suggest options that suit your needs and preferences. By identifying options for you, a financial counsellor can empower you to make good financial decisions, improve your particular situation, and minimise your risk of experiencing elder abuse.

As well as assisting individual people directly, financial counsellors can help to improve situations in other ways. Through their work, they may identify unhelpful issues in public policies and financial systems, and this has led to beneficial changes such as the introduction of hardship provisions for bank customers, council rates concessions, and payment plans for fines and penalties.

Case study: Financial Counselling Victoria

Financial Counselling Victoria (FCVic) is the peak industry body and professional association for financial counsellors in Victoria. FCVic has been working with the state Department of Families Fairness and Housing (DFFH) and local community services on preventing elder abuse through financial counselling.

FCVic has offered training to its members and to aged care, health and allied professionals about financial counselling and its role in helping to mitigate elder abuse. One program has been focused on helping older Victorians in bushfire-affected areas.

If unusual events, like major disasters, coincide with other factors such as age, culture, language ability, digital access or income, an older person may be exceptionally vulnerable to financial stress. Bushfires, floods, storms and pandemics bring not only immediate physical risks for older people, but also longer-term social, environmental and economic risks and psychological impacts.

The effects of traumatic events can disrupt an older person’s ability to solve problems, engage socially and make strategic decisions. In addition, the loss of established social networks or familiar home surroundings can have a significant effect, particularly in rural communities.

Uncovering the barriers to financial counselling

Under the ‘Stronger than Before’ program in the aftermath of the 2019–20 Black Saturday bushfires, FCVic coordinated and assisted financial counsellors to deliver community outreach in libraries and elder abuse awareness sessions in bushfire-affected areas. FCVic promoted financial health & wellbeing, financial literacy and financial counselling conversations to rural and remote older communities as older people may not be aware that the financial demands made by family and friends can lead to financial mistreatment or elder abuse.

FCVic trained a number of case managers and care workers who work in older people’s home, to assist older people to have conversations and seek out support in cases of hardship and financial elder abuse. Given that most older people ‘age in place’, the role of workers who access people’s homes is critical in identifying and providing referral supports regarding financial elder abuse.

The activities recently included training in-home aged care workers and talking with bilingual workers, community leaders and Aboriginal Elders about the barriers that older people may encounter in seeking help. FCVic reported that involving older people and community agency workers in these elder abuse conversations has been ‘an incredibly rich journey’.

In the discussions, bilingual workers and residents identified the cultural and linguistic barriers facing older people from migrant and refugee backgrounds:

• fear of what will happen to their adult children if the financial abuse they commit is reported

• fear of their adult children’s reaction if the behaviour or financial mistreatment of the older person is reported

• concern that they may publicly defame their family by reporting the abuse, which creates a deep sense of shame

• a general lack of understanding of what constitutes financial elder abuse

• no access to a computer or mobile phone

• no knowledge of who to turn to for help

• in some cases, a strong feeling of isolation in older people who are not involved in community groups and may feel like they are being ‘held hostage’ by family members in their homes

• low trust of government institutions, from their own experiences in their countries of origin.

Aboriginal Elders also spoke about factors that are important in supporting First Nations older people to deal with financial abuse situations:

• Understanding complex family dynamics and obligations is very important – Aboriginal older people don’t want to lose the relationship with their families.

• It’s helpful to remember that most Aboriginal people are not rich – they are a marginalised group with very little money, and they don’t want financial counsellors telling them how to manage what little they do have.

• Understand that Aboriginal older people have family and financial obligations, including Sorry Business (funeral) expenses while hosting family and friends for extended periods of time.

• If financial counsellors could be more visible and accessible, Aboriginal older people could realise what they do and how the financial counsellors could assist them.

FCVic turned these and other learnings from the program into an online training course to help financial counsellors better identify and respond to financial elder abuse.

Helping older people understand financial abuse

‘We want older people to feel more comfortable talking about money concerns with their friends and family, while also being empowered to stand up to financial abuse,’ says Zyl Hovenga-Wauchope, Financial Counselling Victoria’s Executive Officer.

‘We want them to have easy access to tools and resources that help them get the financial assistance they’re entitled to or understand how to deal with complicated systems.’

FCVic provides resources such as the Money problems can happen to anyone webpage to help older people understand their financial health, build their financial capability and find a financial counsellor in their local area. For older Victorians needing further assistance or advocacy, the Older and wiser - standing strong resources page lists organisations, websites and documents that can help.

Older people in some communities may not even realise that the financial demands made by their family and friends can lead to financial mistreatment or elder abuse. FCVic’s resources – such as the ‘Quick Guides’ videos and factsheets, available in 11 languages –are available for workers and community leaders to share and discuss with their wider community.

‘We want seniors to know they have a support system that includes financial counsellors who can help them with their money, especially when the cost of living is going up and they have limited or fixed incomes,’ Zyl says.

‘We also want them to know they can talk to someone if they think they’re being mistreated when it comes to their money, and that a call or meeting with a financial counsellor will always be free, confidential and non-judgemental.’

Get help with financial stress

Find out more about financial counsellors’ qualifications and activities on national peak body Financial Counselling Australia (FCA)’s About financial counselling webpage.

The National Debt Helpline is an FCA telephone service that can help anyone experiencing financial difficulties. To get advice, phone 1800 007 007 weekdays between 9.30 am and 4.30 pm or chat online with a counsellor via the website.

You can also find a financial counsellor in your state or territory through the National Debt Helpline. Some counsellors specialise in particular situations such as family and domestic violence, gambling, small businesses, First Nations people, and rural producers and businesses.

Support for vulnerable people in financial hardship
Financial Counselling Services Victoria

National Debt Helpline - talk to a financial counsellor and referral to local financial counselling agency 1800 007 007

Thanks to Financial Counselling Victoria (FCVic)