One in 10 Australians to experience economic abuse: study

As many in one in 10 Australians will be subject to "economic abuse," a study has found.

The study, published by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), found that 11.7 percent of all Australians would experience economic abuse.

RMIT researchers said economic abuse is a form of domestic violence that has "a significant impact on the health and financial wellbeing of victims."

It is a form of abuse whereby a person's partner has control over their access to economic resources, which diminishes the victim's capacity to support themselves and forces them to depend on the abuser financially.

The researchers conducted face-to-face interviews with 17,050 randomly selected adults representing Australia's population.

They found that 15.7 percent of women in all age groups experienced economic abuse, more than double the 7.1 percent of men who experienced it.

Researchers found that disability, health and financial stress were significant contributors to economic abuse.

The study said that who had experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) were far more likely to also be subjected to economic abuse.

Results indicated that Australian women are among the most prominently economically abused in the world, with similar studies in the United States and Canada indicating that up to 15.1 percent and 4.9 percent of women were economically abused in those countries respectively.

However, a similar study in Britain found that 21 percent of women were subjected to the abuse.

People who fell in the 30-39, 40-49 or 50-59 age groups were the most likely to be subjected to economic abuse, with 20.9 percent of women aged 40-49 found to be victims. Endit