The Australian Banking Association (ABA), in partnership with Westpac, has launched a new initiative aimed at protecting banking customers from financial abuse. The initiative, a toolkit dubbed 'Safety by Design', has been developed by Westpac and is now accessible to the wider banking sector. The toolkit provides guidance to banks on designing products and services that better safeguard customers from financial abuse and help identify perpetrators.

ABA CEO Anna Bligh states that Australian banks are leading the way in making banking safer for customers. "Banking staff on the frontline see instances of financial abuse every day. Safety by Design principles allow bankers to put user safety and rights at the centre of the design of banking products. This means it will be harder for perpetrators to exploit banking products and services to control and financially abuse people," said Bligh.

Tiffiny Lewin, Westpac's Head of Vulnerability Strategy and Governance, emphasised the importance of industry-wide adoption of best practices for systemic change. "While it is good for us to build capability within our own organisation, it is even better, if we move as an industry. We hope the resources developed by Westpac will be used across our peer organisations to support all customers – no matter who they bank with," said Lewin.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant commended the toolkit as a crucial step towards enabling banks to better protect their customers from technology-facilitated abuse and financial exploitation. "The Safety by Design toolkit is a crucial step towards enabling banks to better protect their customers from these harms. By embedding user safety into the core design of banking products, we can prevent perpetrators from exploiting financial systems to control or abuse others. By implementing these principles, banks can create an environment that not only safeguards users, but also actively supports customers’ right to have safe access their accounts and make informed financial decisions without fear of technology-facilitated abuse or financial exploitation," said Grant.