Ms Catherine Fitzpatrick

Catherine Fitzpatrick is a social entrepreneur on a mission to disrupt financial abuse and gender bias through smarter product and service design.

Nearly 30 years ago, Catherine met a woman whose tragic story shaped her career. Since then, she’s led industry-wide reforms, advised governments on financial abuse policy and pioneered the financial safety by design framework – helping leading brands protect customers, manage risk and strengthen trust.

A former bank executive, in 2019 she uncovered widespread abuse in online banking transactions and spearheaded whole-of-industry reforms to crack down on the practice.

Today her ground-breaking Designed to Disrupt reports and #respectandprotect campaign have catalysed nearly 50 Australian businesses across 10 sectors to ban the misuse of their products and services for financial abuse, offering greater financial protections for more than 20 million customers.

Her work has been recognised over the years, including as an AFR|Qantas 100 Women of Influence in 2018, and in 2024 with a Shared Value Individual Bravery Award and a National Consumer Advocacy Award, alongside the Centre for Women’s Economic Safety and CHOICE.

Catherine is Adjunct Associate Professor, UNSW School of Social Sciences, and holds advisory roles with the Commonwealth and NSW governments and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation. She’s co-founder of the One Generation business alliance against domestic and family violence with not-for-profit Thriving Communities Australia, launched with former Australian of the Year Rosie Batty AO in 2024.