Australia will introduce laws to penalize perpetrators of domestic violence who rack up debts in their partners' names, Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino said on Wednesday.

The proposed changes follow a parliamentary inquiry into financial abuse and aim to stop abusers from coercing victims into directorships, siphoning superannuation, or claiming death benefits, the ABC reported.

Financial and economic abuse affects more than 2.4 million Australians and costs the economy nearly $11 billion annually, according to Deloitte research published by Treasury, Nassim Khadem reports for ABC business (AU).