Jessica Detterer

Research Title: Economic abuse and its intersection with the tax and transfer system.

Supervisor/s Name: Michael Walpole, Ann Kayis-Kumar

Jessica is a PhD candidate at the School of Accounting, Auditing and Taxation.

Jessica’s PhD research focuses on economic abuse, particularly the economic abuse of a partner or close family member. Her research was motivated by recent increase in refund frauds within the Australian tax and transfer system, whereby frauds may occur because of the exploitation of a person’s identity by their partner to obtain a tax benefit without their consent or where they were forced to claim government payments they are not entitled to. Related behaviours may include taking control of the person’s myGov and bank accounts, registration of fake businesses in the person’s name (for example, as a company director) or even stand over tactics to demand withdrawal of any monies received.

Using the phenomenological research methodology, Jessica seeks to identify typologies or patterns of economic abuse through interviews, reports and/or case studies provided by Australian Government agencies, the UNSW Tax Clinic, Financial Counsellors, Tax Agents, the Police, and other institutions that support victim-survivors of economic abuse. Her research aims to understand the extent and impact of these patterns of abuse on victim-survivors, identify options for more effective and/or appropriate proactive and reactive responses to that abuse, and consider whether the law, policy or administrative design could be reformed or amended to better support victim-survivors of economic abuse.