Financial Coercive Control: The 6 Red Flags Every Woman Needs to Know

Content warning: This episode discusses financial abuse, coercive control, and intimate partner violence. Support services are listed at the end of these notes, including 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732. If anything in this episode is distressing, please reach out.  In New South Wales, on 1 July 2024, coercive control became a criminal offence in intimate partner relationships. Queensland followed in May 2025. In 2026, the federal family law reform formally recognised financial abuse for the first time in Australian history. Which means a lot of the behaviours we've spent decades calling "a controlling marriage" or "he's just careful with money" are now, in a pattern — illegal.   In this episode, Mel and Lawsie walk through the six signs of financial coercive control. Some you'll recognise. Some you'll have lived through and never had a word for. All of them are named in the legislation, the BOCSAR research, or both.   The six signs covered  The six signs of financial coercive control: 1. A lack of control over your own income — or a strict, often small, allowance that is tracked   2. Sabotaging your career or education to keep you financially reliant   3. Surveillance of every dollar you spend — big or small   4. Pressuring or tricking you into signing for loans and credit in your name 5. His money pays for him; your money pays for the kids, the groceries, and the essentials 6. Keeping you in the dark about household finances, debt, and investments  Plus: Mel reclaims the term sexually transmitted debt: and explains why it'