This comes as one group waits hopefully for new federal funding to assist those in the North.

The review, conducted for the group's current Red Shield Appeal, found there had been a 40 per cent increase in the number of people accessing financial counselling through the organisation in the past five years - three in five of which were women.

Those aged 65 and older were requiring the services at the fastest growing rate.

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"Older women, many fleeing family violence, are especially vulnerable and we are seeing anecdotal evidence that many suffer in silence rather than ask for help," said Salvation Army officer Major Brad Watson. "[They] have become the unexpected face of poverty in Australia."

In the last three months, McCombe House - a crisis accommodation service in Hobart catering to single women and those with children escaping violence or homelessness - had to turn away 12 women over the age of 50 experiencing domestic violence, the review found.

Yvette Cehtel, chief executive of the Women's Legal Service Tasmania, said family violence often had a financial aspect when experienced by women, as they may not have ever managed their finances. This was particularly so in cases involving property settlements.

"We would say that older women in our experience are particularly impacted ... due to existing stereotypes," Ms Cehtel said. "However financial abuse can be an impact of domestic violence among other groups, too."

Though still awaiting federal government confirmation, Ms Cehtel added the organisation was hoping to receive extra funding to hire 3 part-time staff members across Launceston and Burnie to provide financial counselling by July 1.

"It's an area of need," she said. "It's a gap the Commonwealth has identified. And it's a service we are well placed to deliver in the context of our domestic violence units."

The review also found one-quarter of Salvation Army clients were experiencing "extreme housing stress" (spending more than 70 per cent of their income on housing) and one in six faced struggles to pay their energy bills.

In Launceston, the organisation's North and North-West operations manager Anita Reeve said they were seeing "many more" older women who were homeless or at risk of homelessness in the 50-plus age bracket.

Housing and Human Services Minister Roger Jaensch was contacted for comment.

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