Category: Publications and reports

Cross-sector commitment shown at International Economic Abuse Awareness Day event

10/12/2025

“While trying to recover emotionally and rebuild life as a single mum, I also had to deal with the financial damage he caused…” Good Shepherd NZ client, Katy*

International Economic Abuse Awareness Day is an opportunity to call for greater recognition of the harm caused by economic abuse and the need for solutions. This year, Good Shepherd NZ partnered to meaningfully contribute to those lasting solutions, creating a new code of practice for specialist lenders with the Financial Services Federation (FSF).

Good Shepherd NZ and FSF gathered people working in the financial services, community and private sectors at an event in Auckland to mark the Awareness Day and launch the code. Good Shepherd NZ Chief Executive Tania Pouwhare introduced leaders working to raise awareness of economic abuse and address the conditions that allow it to happen. 

Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner, Gail Pacheco spoke of the difference the code of practice can make on the lives of those experiencing economic abuse, and of economic abuse as a human rights issue. Systemic issues, like the gender-pay-gap and unequal labour market outcomes, also hold women back and hinder financial recovery.

Good Shepherd NZ’s Senior Family Violence Specialist, Vanessa Mazzola, shared the story of a client she had supported. Katy had left a violent relationship with her young child but was struggling to financially recover due to debt that was taken out in her name without her knowledge.

“Around two years ago, he decided to purchase a brand-new car and arranged an $80,000 loan through UDC Finance. What I didn’t know then was that he had taken out the entire loan in my name, without my knowledge or consent. He used my passport ID and even forged my signature. All the paperwork went to his email, so I didn’t know anything about it until much later.”

Vanessa shared how she was able to work with UDC Finance to get Katy’s name taken off the debt for the car loan, relieving the constant anxiety this was causing. We want to extend our sincere thanks to Katy for sharing her story and for taking the time to attend our event. Her story helped those in the room understand the true impact that financial services, and other essential service providers, can make when they understand economic abuse and the harm it can cause.

Don Atkinson, UDC Finance, shared a financial service provider’s perspective on the code of practice. He spoke of Katy’s story providing the ‘why’ for financial services adopting the code of practice, and that the guidance gave clear examples of ‘how’ they could operationalise these in practice.

“A real responsibility for us, is to pick this code up, turn the words on the page into action and the culture within the organisation itself” Don Atkinson, UDC Finance

Professor Janet Fanslow of the University of Auckland provided more context on the scale and prevalence of economic abuse in New Zealand. Her insights drew from her research into the impacts of it on women’s mental health and financial wellbeing. The research found that 15% of women in New Zealand have experienced economic abuse. She also reported a stark statistic that those who experienced it were almost five times more likely to report a mental health condition.

Lyn McMorran, Executive Director of FSF, rounded off the event with her reflections on the development of the code of practice and the opportunities it provides their member organisations.

“Giving [our members] the guidance in terms of the ways in which they can bring those principles to life, I think is really invaluable” Lyn McMorran, Financial Services Federation

We want to thank all the speakers for their valuable insights and for making the time to attend the event. The release of the code of practice shows the impact we can make when we collaborate across sectors. The event provided a chance to bring together people from a range of backgrounds with a shared focus on addressing critical issues. Good things always come when we share perspectives and strengthen our collective response.

“I can now focus on rebuilding my life and creating a safe, stable home for my daughter.”

*name changed for safety

Read the Code of Practice

Good Shepherd NZ and Financial Services Federation launch code of practice to help specialist lenders in their work to prevent and reduce economic harm

27/11/2025

Good Shepherd NZ and the Financial Services Federation (FSF) are excited to release a code of practice (the code) designed to help specialist lenders prevent and reduce harm for customers experiencing economic harm from family violence.

The announcement comes as Good Shepherd NZ marks International Economic Abuse Awareness Day (26 November 2025) with an event in Auckland to raise awareness of economic abuse and to announce the launch of the code.

“Economic abuse can be more invisible than other forms of family violence, so it is important that lenders and service providers can spot economic abuse and have appropriate processes in place to support their clients”, says Good Shepherd NZ Chief Executive, Tania Pouwhare

For Financial Services Federation (FSF) members, economic abuse means customers might not know about debt they are responsible for, or they suddenly may be unable to make payments. The code outlines responsibilities which member organisations will consider to better meet the unique needs of these customers and reduce the impact of economic abuse.

“We know organisations like those that belong to FSF are committed to supporting customers experiencing harm and vulnerabilities, so working together to develop a code of practice allowed us to draw on our expertise to create a code of practice that we hope will ultimately help victims” says FSF Executive Director, Lyn McMorran

The code is the result of a partnership between the two organisations, reflecting a shared commitment to support those experiencing economic harm from family violence. Co-design with FSF members has ensured that the code of practice responsibilities keep staff and customers safe and recognise the business context these organisations work within.

Good Shepherd NZ, in collaboration with the FSF, its members and family violence specialists, has also developed a companion resource to outline how responsibilities within the code can be met in practice.

“Family violence situations are complex. Staff might want to help, but often don’t know the right way to go about it. The companion resource provides some options and examples for how organisations may respond to different situations when their customers experiencing economic abuse”, says Tania

Further codes of practice will also be developed for the energy, telecommunications, and financial advisor sectors. We hope to see these sectors follow suit and commence co-design work in 2026.

Read the code of practice

Editor’s note

Help is available:

Women’s Refuge — if you’re experiencing financial or economic abuse and/or other forms of family violence call 0800 733 843
Good Shepherd’s Family Violence Economic Harm Service — if you’re recovering from family violence and want help with the money piece call 0800 466 370 option 4.

What is economic abuse?

Financial and economic abuse is recognised in the Family Violence Act 2018, as a form of psychological abuse. It takes many forms — eg restricting money, damaging property, preventing from work, manipulating how much child support is owed, forcing or fraudulently incurring debt.
Recent data shows that more than 60% of women seeking support from Women’s Refuge, who completed a risk assessment, noted they experienced financial or economic abuse.
It can be hard to recognise economic abuse because, like other acts of psychological violence, it doesn’t leave visible marks.
While it often occurs alongside other types of violence, it can also be a standalone act.
Family violence economic harm can happen to anyone. We see people from all walks of life, socio-economic and demographic backgrounds, who suffer under controlling behaviours and economic abuse.
The impact can be devastating and can affect financial wellbeing long after the relationship is over. Research shows us that women’s access to employment is affected by economic harm, which limits their financial independence during and after an abusive relationship.

About Good Shepherd

Good Shepherd is a charitable non-government organisation that helps women, girls and their families who are experiencing harm and hardship.

Good Shepherd NZ provides a specialist support service to help people address and recover from family violence economic harm. Our specialists have experience in financial capability, advocacy and working with those who have experienced family violence and economic harm.

Our work in New Zealand began in 1886. We work in more than 70 countries, drawing on collective expertise, especially in the areas of economic participation and wellbeing, safety and resilience.

The Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd has Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations for its work with women and girls and is supported by the Good Shepherd International Foundation.

About the FSF

The FSF is the non-profit industry association for specialist lenders operating in Aotearoa New Zealand, with a collective customer base of over 1.7million consumers and businesses. FSF members provide crucial competition to traditional banks through innovation, agility, and the ability to be closer to their customers.

Members include finance, leasing and credit-related insurance providers, and include the likes of UDC Finance, MTF, Turners, several credit unions and building societies, fintech firms, and the finance arms of global motor vehicle brands including Toyota, Nissan, Honda, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz.

With 60 years of history, FSF has stringent membership criteria and enforces a Code of Conduct to maintain high standards in responsible lending. FSF members prioritise compliance, support consumer protection enforcement, and advocate for balanced regulations that ensure New Zealanders can access responsibly provided credit.

New paper exploring dignified income

Today we released our latest policy paper, “Defining dignified income”. We use the term ‘dignified income’ to describe income that is more than just enough to scrape by – it allows for women to live fulfilled lives.

This paper explores the issues preventing women from receiving equitable employment outcomes and breaks down how we define dignified income to better understand the factors which support women’s financial outcomes.

We want to understand both the opportunities and the barriers to dignified income, to inform future work on how these opportunities can be maximised and barriers overcome.

We know that women often experience poorer pay and employment opportunities than men, and that access to income is essential for women’s quality of life, access to goods and services, financial security and safety. Having enough income is essential to ensure bills can be paid, food can be put on the table, and children can receive the resources they need to thrive. Without this, women are vulnerable to poverty and may become dependent on others to make ends meet.

In this paper, we define dignified income as enough to pay the bills with some leftover for emergency savings and treats, it’s stable and secure, and it’s safe from harm and harassment. Ideally, income is also adaptable enough to enable a fair work/life balance, and the work experience is appropriate and fulfilling. These factors are all important to ensure a person’s income is dignified, but there are many compromises people make in relation to employment and income to make work suit their lifestyle and life stage. So, one way to look at dignified income is being able to meet basic needs and earn an income that aligns with a person’s more aspirational goals and values at the time. It’s about unlocking the privilege of choice.

Read our report on defining dignified income

Reflecting on the 2024-2025 financial year

We are proud to report on the team’s operational activities and achievements over the 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025 period.

The 2024-2025 financial year saw Good Shepherd New Zealand:

delivering services to thousands of women, girls and their families experiencing harm and hardship
raising awareness of social issues causing harm and hardship, and driving improvements to systems that hold people back
strengthening our capability, profile, and infrastructure, so we can make even more impact in the year to come.

It has always been a privilege to support individuals, families and communities, and we’re encouraged by the effect our services have in wider society. Analysis this year shows just how much better off everyone can be when women are safe, strong, well and connected. For example, for every dollar invested in our Family Violence Economic Harm support service, we create over $11 of social impact for New Zealand – ie, savings in healthcare, the justice system and the economy.

Our efforts brought new opportunities to reduce pressure and harm for women. Importantly, we gained support of two new funders to design and deliver a service for single older women experiencing financial barriers to housing. Given the long-term impact of gender inequities earlier in life, and the hidden problem of women’s homelessness, we are excited about what this new service might enable.

In addition to our work locally, we continued to tighten connections with Good Shepherd in Australia and the wider Asia-Pacific region. The opportunity to leverage strengths in each country will mean even more local impact. A new governance structure will bolster this enduring and vital relationship, honouring an important connection for the Sisters and mission.

The Sisters of the Good Shepherd have supported women and girls in New Zealand for around 140 years. We acknowledge their commitment to mission, their ongoing work and their legacy. We are deeply grateful to our incredible team and the extended governance group supporting their work. Ultimate recognition belongs to the women, girls and families we serve, whose determination and integrity spurs us on. Our work and impact from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025 is summarised in the 2024-2025 Year in Review.

Social return on investment reports show value of GSNZ services

Independent analysis finds that our services deliver incredible social good for New Zealanders – between $3.40 and $11.80 generated for every dollar spent.

Over the last few months, Good Shepherd NZ has been working alongside MartinJenkins to calculate the social return on investment for two of our services: Good Loans and the Family violence economic harm support service.

Social return on investment calculates the value to society from every dollar invested in a service. This includes factors such as economic, social, cultural and environmental benefits, as well as financial benefits from cost savings (avoided government expenditure).

MartinJenkins used data collected by Good Shepherd NZ through our regular impact surveys to provide an independent assessment on whether outcomes are being achieved. They take a robust and conservative approach to quantification, focusing on impacts with the biggest quantifiable benefits and using peer-reviewed academic literature and systematic reviews to provide evidence of benefits.

Our Chief Executive, Emma Saunders says “We are deeply grateful for the time and effort of the MartinJenkins team to deliver these reports. It is important to measure impact so we know which aspects of our work could be continued, improved or reconsidered to make sure our efforts get the best results for women, girls and their families.”

Social return on investment assessment for the GoodLoans service, as delivered in 2024, shows that for every $1 invested, $3.40 of social impacts were generated. This number is generated from the quantified benefits (estimated value of the benefits of improved financial wellbeing for adults on low incomes), to a total to $4.7 million, and the cost to run the service.

Social return on investment assessment for the family violence economic harm support service, as delivered in 2024, shows that for every $1 invested, $3.49 of social impacts were generated. This number is generated from the quantified benefits (the estimated value of societal benefits of improved financial wellbeing of adults on low incomes), to a total to $4.4 million, and the cost to run the service.

In calculating the full cost of the family violence economic harm service, MartinJenkins included the costs to businesses who write off debt. When business write off debt, they miss out on the income associated with the debt being paid back. If only the cost to Good Shepherd NZ is considered in the analysis (i.e. the amount of money we spend to run the service) and cost of writing off debt is excluded, then the ratio changes. When costs for businesses are excluded, for every $1 invested in the FVEH support service, $11.80 of social impacts are generated.

The reports also show that our services have other benefits to society that we don’t currently have the data to quantify. This includes improvements across mental and physical health, housing, income, safety, and connection to community.

Read Good Shepherd NZ’s social return on investment reports

New report on the financial barriers to exiting abusive relationships

Today we released our report on “Barriers to Exit: How financial barriers prevent women from leaving abusive relationships”. This work pulls together information from our client research with academic and cross-sector findings to tell a story about the financial challenges facing women when they try to leave an abusive relationship.

We see that there are many expenses involved with leaving an abusive relationship, and without accessible money it can be hard to start fresh. When including the cost of a bond to secure rental accommodation, the purchase of a car to escape, and all the associated costs of setting up a household, our analysis finds that the up-front cost of leaving an abusive relationship comes to nearly $10,000.

The inability to leave due to not affording these expenses can be a major restriction for women seeking safety. Without financial independence, women become trapped in abusive relationships and are subject to further harm and hardship.

This paper details how abusers can utilise behaviours that weaken their partner’s financial wellbeing and security so that they have less resources available to meet these costs and leave the relationship. This includes creating a culture of financial dependency within the relationship, and leveraging joint finances to exploit and disadvantage victim-survivors. The impacts of this behaviour can put victim-survivors into serious financial hardship. Without access to wages or savings and with debt taking a cut from their weekly budget, many victim-survivors cannot purchase the goods and services needed to escape, and they cannot afford to access legal advice needed to ensure their rights and obligations are met.

We have developed seven recommendations which we believe would help victim-survivors to exit abusive relationships. There is a need for targeted interventions across a range of sectors to ensure victim-survivors do not end up trapped in abusive relationships because of a lack of finances. Not only do businesses need to improve their policies and practices for supporting customers experiencing family violence economic abuse, but cross-government action is needed to provide targeted funding and assess current settings. Joined up efforts are needed to address the complex challenges caused by family violence economic abuse, and help victim-survivors keep themselves safe, recover and thrive.

Read the report and our recommendations for change

New report on issues facing women experiencing harm and hardship

Today we are excited to release our report “Issues facing women experiencing harm and hardship” which focuses on the key financial and economic challenges that women are facing. This paper pulls together research and data from several sources and serves as a point in time view of how different factors come together to disadvantage women in New Zealand.

The paper shows that, while there is important work being done by the community, philanthropic and government sectors, there is still significant need for change. Women continue to face worse financial outcomes and remain vulnerable to harm and hardship.

On-going pay equity disparities mean women still struggle to access dignified income, which impacts their financial wellbeing and leaves them vulnerable to harm. It is also apparent that problem debt remains a pervasive issue for those in hardship and especially for those experiencing family violence economic abuse.

These challenges are harder for certain cohorts of women. In particular, Māori and Pacific women are overrepresented in family violence, housing deprivation, and gender pay gap statistics. The proportion of women on the sole parent benefit, difficulty re-entering the labour market, and the high value of unpaid child support debt shows that single mothers are also a cohort in need.

This reaffirms that women’s financial lives are not the product of discrete factors, there are many structural, systematic, and demographic issues that interact to impact whether a woman experiences hardship or harm. Complex challenges require complex solutions. We have undertaken this research as part of our work to identify and address social issues where they intersect with our financial and economic wellbeing work. This information will be used to support or identify changes that reduce and remove barriers to financial inclusion and economic participation for women. Going forward, we intend to deep-dive into some of the issues noted in this paper and present recommendations for changes that create better outcomes for women.

Read the full report

New research into the long-term impacts of economic abuse

16/04/2025

Good Shepherd New Zealand is pleased to share new research examining the ongoing impacts of economic harm from family violence. The report titled ‘Long-term impacts of family violence economic abuse’ shines light on women’s experiences of economic abuse, and the financial and economic consequences that can continue long after a relationship has ended.

Economic abuse is a form of family violence that uses coercive, controlling, and threatening behaviour to restrict or remove a person’s financial freedom, autonomy, and security.

Some early insights from this work were released in November 2024 as part of an International Economic Abuse Awareness Day event, and we’re excited to now be releasing the report in full.

Economic abuse is a relatively recent area of study. We are privileged to add this report to the body of knowledge about such an important subject. Our research used data from the National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges and Good Shepherd’s Economic Harm Service to illustrate the variety and extent of economic abuse experienced by women — often alongside physical violence, emotional abuse, gaslighting and other harmful behaviours.

We found that over the course of a year, 60% of Women’s Refuge clients who completed a risk assessment identified they had experienced at least one form of economic harm. Most (72%) reported being excluded from decisions about shared or household money, and a similar number (68%) reported being stopped from having their own money. Good Shepherd New Zealand clients also reported economic restriction and control, and forced or coerced debt. There was an average of $22,000 of debt per person, and the majority held multiple debts with one or more creditor. The impact of this can be devastating, and can affect financial wellbeing long after the relationship is over.

Women interviewed discussed how houses, children, and the legal system were weaponised against them after leaving the relationship — burning them out emotionally and pushing them further into financial hardship. For others, the impacts of high-cost debt were compounded by the challenges of a ruined credit score, housing insecurity, and difficulty re-entering the job market.

Many clients interviewed said they found it hard to imagine a future, but they were hopeful about looking forward to the simple things in life, such as a home, happy children, a job, and being debt free. We will continue to play our part in supporting women to be lifted out of harm and hardship and into better financial wellbeing.

A heartfelt thank you to former Good Shepherd clients who participated in interviews for this research project. We’re so grateful for your trust and insights. And thank you to the National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges for providing us with their data to help us understand the economic harm their clients experience.

Read the full report and a suite of companion resources