The organisation’s financial counselling service has seen a drastic increase in the number of people facing financial stress due to interest on pay day loans in the last 12 months.

This has compounded with debts to telecommunication and utility companies – many of which are accrued due to family violence situations.

St Luke’s Anglicare Bendigo manager of case management services Tracey Grinter said victims of family violence were among the largest group seeking help in managing and reducing their debt.

“The family violence financial counsellor and other members of the team report most clients impacted by family violence have multiple telecommunications debts and are unable to sustain them financially,” she said.

“Another complex issue is clients presenting with debts not incurred by themselves, but have been taken out in the client’s name – sometimes without their knowledge and often under duress.

“An example of this is a recent client of the program who was forced by a perpetrator of family violence to enter into contracts for utility accounts in her name for a property she never resided in.”

In one instance, a woman was bullied into signing up to eight different Telstra services which included device purchases, totaling $800 per month. Her income was a Centrelink carer’s payment.

She also had three pay day loans with two different companies.

She was coerced into creating the Telstra accounts by her abuser, who sold the devices for cash.

The telecommunication companies agreed to waive her debt after being provided proof of her situation – reducing her debt from $11,700 to $612.

It was just one of many people who have achieved a debt reduction, which have totaled $450,000 in 10 months in Bendigo, Echuca, Mildura and Wangaratta.

The service will now be expanded.

The state government provided $1.2 million over four years for two full-time general financial counsellors and a part-time specialist family violence counsellor in Bendigo.

Ms Grinter said they also worked to improve people’s knowledge of debt.

“Many clients note they now understand credit contracts and the implications of such contracts, with many reporting they will no longer access pay day loans or telecommunication products,” she said.

“They also report knowing how to advocate for themselves if they experience financial difficulty in the future.”