About

Yourtoolkit.com was launched in 2019 by the Hon. Minister Simone McGurk to support women facing family and domestic violence.

Yourtoolkit.com provides a free, comprehensive, road map towards independence and resilience.

Regularly updated and interactive, the website contains a broad range of information about keeping safe, finding support, legal and money matters.

Vision

Trusted and recognised leadership in educating, empowering and equipping women and children facing or recovering from domestic violence, financial abuse and coercive control.

Purpose

To educate, empower and equip women and children facing or recovering from domestic violence, financial abuse and coercive control.

Values

Respect
Integrity
Equality
Collaboration
Safety

History

Financial Toolbox was founded in 2017 with the aim of empowering women through financial education. In partnership with Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand, our early activities focused on educational workshops for women about personal finances and money matters.

Our work to support women and children facing, or at risk of, family and domestic violence was initially focused on financial abuse. This quickly grew to the provision of a more comprehensive suite of information to empower those facing abuse through the various steps of their journey.

Yourtoolkit.com was developed as a free, online resource after extensive consultation with those facing abuse and those working with them about how we could best provide support to augment and complement existing family and domestic violence services.

In early 2023 we became a Company Limited by Guarantee and changed our name from Financial Toolbox Inc. to Yourtoolkit.com Limited (ACN 666 106 707). Yourtoolkit.com is maintained by the Women at Risk Trust (“the Trust”) which was established in 2019 for the purpose of providing support to women and their children facing or have faced domestic violence and/or financial abuse.

The Trust is a Public Benevolent Institution endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office with Deductible Gift Recipient status and Yourtoolkit.com Limited is a charity registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.

Real voices, real impact

Yourtoolkit.com is dedicated to supporting women escaping family and domestic violence with practical, evidence based resources that empower them on their journey. We collaborate with lived experience reference groups to ensure our content is safe, reliable and relevant.

This platform helped me to safely escape a dangerous situation and gave me the confidence to take action.
– Website user

Team Members

Elisa Fear

Chair

Elisa Fear has extensive financial executive experience from roles in investment banking, including equity capital markets, debt, advisory and venture capital. This is overlaid with commercial experience from owning and running businesses.

In addition to Yourtoolkit.com, Elisa is currently on the boards of Curtin University and St John WA. She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds an MBA (Finance). Elisa is committed to providing support for women and children facing domestic violence and financial abuse.

Nadia Mansour

Company Secretary

Nadia is an experienced senior leader with more than 20 years’ experience. She is currently the Chief Legal Counsel & Company Secretary at HBF.

Nadia has worked as a management consultant and lawyer. She is an experienced governance, regulatory and risk professional and trusted general counsel.

Nadia is a committee member of the WA Law Society’s Intellectual Property & Technology Committee and IPSANZ (the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand) and is a mentor for the Australian Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC).

Steven Cole Llb

Chair Funding Committee

Steven Cole has over 40 years of professional, corporate and business experience through senior legal and governance consultancy, as well as a range of executive management and non-executive appointments.

His extensive boardroom and board sub-committee experience includes ASX listed, statutory, proprietary and NFP organisations covering the industrial, financial, educational, professional services, agribusiness, health, local government and resources sectors.

He is a sought-after consultant for many organisations seeking either to enhance or remediate their organisational governance capabilities, and a mentor for a number of emerging company director aspirants.

Gillian Nathan

Chair of Audit, Finance and Risk Committee

Gillian Nathan founded her tax and accounting practice, Simple Solutions Accounting Services in 2016, and now employs 13 staff and services over 1300 clients around Australia.

Ms Nathan has extensive experience in taxation, financial and management reporting and works daily with individuals and small business owners.

When she’s not helping clients, or crunching numbers – she’s giving back to her community through volunteer work and mentoring aspiring accountants.

Richard Burnell

Chair Communications and IT Committee

Richard is a broad senior multi-disciplined leader, manager and consulting partner of high performing teams for both Government and Private Enterprise. He has extensive mining industry experience gained in Australia and overseas in a variety of organisations both locally and globally, in business areas including exploration, production, marketing and divestment, in a variety of commodities.

Richard has successfully managed complex business transformation and organisation change programs, and has worked extensively with State and Commonwealth Government supporting a variety of volunteer organisations and local governments to manage risk and deliver their services. Richard has been a member of a Finance, Audit and Risk Committees for three State Government agencies, is a Board Member of the Fire & Emergency Services Superannuation Fund, and has been a Justice of the Peace for over 30 years.

John McCarthy AO

Board Member

John McCarthy has served as the Inaugural Chair of the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, is Australia’s first representative on the International Board of the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction, and in 2010 was appointed its Chairman. He is a past National President of the Property Council of Australia.

John currently works out of Sydney as a Non-Executive Chairman of AEH Property Ltd, and Village Building Co as well as undertaking a number of governance positions.

John was awarded the Order of Australia in 2009 for service to the property and construction industries, particularly through leadership roles in peak bodies, and through promotion of co-operation, research and innovation.

Dr Yvonne Kallane

Board Member

Dr Yvonne Kallane is an internationally recognised academic, accomplished author, and business founder. She is a post-graduate student at Notre Dame University Australia (Fremantle), where she is undertaking a (second) Ph.D. about the criminalisation of coercive control in Australia. She has a first Ph.D. in International Business from Monash University, and Master’s degree in Human Rights from University of London. She serves as Associate Editor at The International Journal of Human Rights, and holds a Fellowship at the Social Impact Hub.

Yvonne is founder of Change the Ending, a survivor advocacy program that helps women to break free from coercive control.

Lyn Beazley AO

Ambassador

Professor Lyn Beazley’s career in medical research was followed by becoming the Chief Scientist of Western Australia from 2006 to 2013, advising the Government on science, innovation and technology. Lyn was awarded Officer of the Order of Australia in 2009 and was named the WA Australian of the Year 2015. Lyn is a Fellow of both the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. Lyn serves on numerous boards/councils and is proud patron/ambassador of many organisations including Financial Toolbox that she helped found after meeting Rosie Battie at the Australian of the Year Awards.

Mark Bush

Ambassador

Emeritus Professor Mark Bush joined the University of Western Australia in 1984 as a lecturer, and subsequently served as Head of the Engineering Department and Dean of the Faculty.

He is a Chartered Professional Engineer, Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia (EA), and Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. He has served in various capacities in these organisations, on several Boards (including Financial Toolbox) and is currently Chair of the National Engineering Accreditation Board.

He is a volunteer firefighter, current Captain and Fire Control Officer, and is an accredited Trainer/Assessor and Mental Health First Aider.

Penny Fegan

Chief Executive Officer

Penny is the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of Yourtoolkit.com, which is a website supporting women facing domestic violence and financial abuse on their journey to an independent, confident and safe life.

Penny comes from a background working with businesses to improve their governance, strategy and risk, has experience establishing and running multiple start-ups and has been involved in various not for profits as manager, consultant and Non-Executive Director, including as Chair of Ruah Community Services.

Hayley Williams

Marketing and Communications Coordinator

Hayley has led the marketing and communications for Yourtoolkit.com since 2021, supporting the organisation’s transformation from a start-up to an established organisation with secure funding and demonstrated impact.

Hayley uses her background in Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations to build Yourtoolkit.com’s brand awareness and help more people facing family and domestic violence find our resource.

Board Members