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Family violence and coercive control

Family violence is raised in over 80 per cent of matters before the family law courts.

The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia's 2022–23 Annual Report puts that figure at 83 per cent, and the Court's most recent data, from its 2023–24 Annual Report, reveals that 70 per cent of parenting cases involve allegations of four or more major risk factors, including family violence, child abuse, mental health concerns, drug and alcohol abuse, threats of harm, and risk of abduction.

While there are no specific statistics on how frequently coercive control is alleged in family law proceedings (a gap recognised by both the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety), the research is clear that coercive control is almost always an underlying dynamic of family and domestic violence.

At a population level, the ABS Personal Safety Survey (2021–22) found that 23 per cent of Australian women and 14 per cent of men have experienced emotional abuse by a partner, with over three million Australians, including more than two million women, having experienced coercive control.

I help clients understand how coercive control and family violence operates across parenting, property and post-separation disputes and how to build the evidence needed to present that pattern to the Court.

What is family violence

Family violence can take many forms, and is often misunderstood

Family violence is not limited to physical abuse. Under Australian family law, it includes any behaviour that is violent, threatening, coercive, controlling, or causes a family member to fear for their safety or wellbeing. Family violence can take many forms, including physical abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, financial control, intimidation, stalking, threats, damage to property, harm to pets, social isolation, and monitoring a person's communications or movements. It is often characterised by a pattern of behaviour designed to exert power and control over another person.

Financial abuse often forms part of a broader pattern of coercive control and can have a significant impact on family law property proceedings. It may involve one party controlling bank accounts, restricting access to money, creating financial dependence, concealing assets, manipulating debts, interfering with employment, depleting assets or forcing financial transactions without genuine consent. In some relationships, coercive control also takes the form of unequal access to financial information, control of family businesses, or financial infidelity that leaves one party unaware of the true financial position of the relationship.

Children can also be affected by family violence, even when they are not the direct target. Seeing, hearing, or experiencing the effects of family violence can have a significant impact on a child's wellbeing and development. In many families, patterns of control, intimidation and manipulation can continue through parenting arrangements long after separation. The Court recognises that coercive control can have a profound impact on a person's capacity to parent and can affect children's emotional wellbeing, development and sense of safety.

Importantly, many forms of family violence leave no visible injuries. The law recognises that coercive and controlling behaviours can be just as harmful as physical violence and should be taken seriously.

Section 4AB of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) defines family violence as violent, threatening or other behaviour by a person that coerces or controls a member of the person's family or causes them to be fearful. The definition is deliberately broad and provides a non-exhaustive list of examples including stalking, repeated derogatory taunts, damaging property, injuring animals, denying financial autonomy, withholding financial support, and preventing a family member from maintaining connections with their family, friends, or culture. Under Australian law, a child is exposed to family violence if they see or hear it, or otherwise experience its effects, overhearing threats, witnessing an assault, comforting a parent afterwards, or simply being present when police attend the home.

Many forms of family violence leave no bruise and no police report. The harm often lies not in a single incident, but in a pattern of behaviour that gradually erodes a person's autonomy, confidence and sense of safety.

WHAT IS Coercive control

A pattern, not an incident.

In 1957, sociologist Albert Biderman identified eight methods of coercion used by captors to break down prisoners of war, including isolation, degradation, exhaustion, threats and intermittent rewards or “indulgences”. Researchers, including Evan Stark, later drew on this framework in understanding domestic and family violence, recognising similar patterns of domination and control within intimate relationships.

In family law matters, coercive control rarely presents as a single, readily identifiable incident. Rather, it is a pattern of behaviour designed to dominate another person. It may involve isolating a partner from family and friends, controlling access to money, monitoring their movements or communications, making threats, imposing rules or restrictions, and alternating cruelty with periods of kindness or apparent remorse. Over time, these behaviours can erode a person’s autonomy, confidence and capacity to make independent decisions.

Understanding coercive control in this way helps explain behaviour that might otherwise be misunderstood. A person experiencing family violence may appear compliant, minimise what has happened, defend or protect the person using violence, or find it extraordinarily difficult to leave the relationship. The absence of physical injury does not mean the absence of serious or lasting harm.

For family law practitioners and courts, the critical task is therefore to look beyond isolated incidents and identify the pattern, cumulative effect and context of the behaviour. Viewed individually, particular acts may appear insignificant. Viewed together, they may reveal a sustained course of domination and control.

That makes the identification and presentation of evidence particularly important. Evidence of coercive control may be found across many sources, including:

  • the direct evidence of the person experiencing family violence;

  • emails, text messages and other contemporaneous communications;

  • bank statements and other financial records demonstrating financial control;

  • digital evidence, including location tracking, monitoring or surveillance;

  • police and intervention-order records;

  • medical, psychological or other expert evidence;

  • photographs and recordings;

  • evidence from family members, friends or other third parties; and

  • school, childcare and other records.

No single piece of evidence necessarily tells the whole story. The evidentiary task is to bring those pieces together so that the pattern of behaviour, its context and its cumulative impact can be seen.

Coercive control does not necessarily end when a relationship ends. It may continue after separation through repeated court or contravention applications, excessive legal or parenting correspondence, procedural demands, disputes about financial disclosure, financial pressure, repeated changes to parenting arrangements, threats of litigation, and the financial and psychological burden of ongoing proceedings. These behaviours can prolong a pattern of control and make it difficult for a person to move forward safely and independently.

Where coercive control is criminalised, state by state.

Australian states and territories are at different stages in their legal response to coercive control.

As at October 2026, standalone offences are in force in two jurisdictions, New South Wales and Queensland. South Australia and Victoria have enacted standalone offences that have not yet commenced, while the Australian Capital Territory has a Bill before its Legislative Assembly. Tasmania has longstanding but narrower offences relating to economic abuse and emotional abuse or intimidation. Western Australia is pursuing a phased approach to reform, and the Northern Territory does not presently have a standalone offence.

New South Wales introduced Australia’s first modern standalone coercive-control offence, which commenced on 1 July 2024 and is confined to current and former intimate partner relationships. Queensland’s offence commenced on 26 May 2025 and has a broader relational scope, extending beyond intimate partners to other prescribed domestic relationships, including family members and informal carers. It carries a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment.

South Australia’s legislation received Royal Assent on 11 September 2025 but is to commence on a date fixed by proclamation. It applies to current or former intimate relationships and incorporates a distinct statutory concept of “controlling impact”. Victoria’s legislation received Royal Assent on 22 September 2026 but has also not yet commenced. It creates an offence applying to current or former intimate partners and expressly recognises a broad range of abusive conduct, including technology-facilitated abuse and conduct involving animals.

The ACT’s Crimes (Coercive Control) Amendment Bill 2026 was introduced on 28 May 2026. A Legislative Assembly committee reported on the Bill on 11 September 2026, making 15 recommendations. Tasmania does not have a comprehensive standalone coercive-control offence, although its Family Violence Act 2004 criminalises particular forms of economic abuse and emotional abuse or intimidation.

Western Australia has adopted a phased approach involving civil-law reform, professional training, community education and systemic preparation before the introduction of a standalone criminal offence. The Northern Territory has no standalone offence, although coercive control is recognised within its existing domestic and family violence framework.

The result is not a single national model, but a patchwork of differing relationship scopes, offence elements, commencement arrangements and maximum penalties. This evolving legal landscape reflects a growing recognition that coercive control is a pattern of domination capable of causing profound harm, even without physical violence. The reforms have also been accompanied by public education, professional training and broader efforts to improve the identification of and response to coercive control.

For practitioners and courts, looking beyond discrete incidents to the pattern, context and cumulative effect of controlling behaviour is essential. It is the only way to understand the full picture of what a person and their family may have been living through.

Family Violence Intervention Orders, family violence and coercive control

Family violence often sits at the intersection of several legal systems.

A person experiencing family violence may require a Family Violence Intervention Order (otherwise known as a protection order or AVO) from a State based Court to protect their safety and that of their children, in addition to also dealing with criminal proceedings relating to family violence or coercive control and family law parenting or property proceedings in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. These proceedings, whilst taking place in different courts and jurisdictions, are often closely connected.

Allegations of family violence can be highly relevant to parenting arrangements, particularly where there are concerns about a child's safety or a parent's ability to make decisions free from coercion, intimidation or fear. The family law courts are required to consider family violence when determining what arrangements are in a child's best interests and may make orders designed to protect children and parents from further harm.

Importantly, the existence of an intervention order does not automatically determine the outcome of a family law case. However, both courts recognise that family violence can have a profound impact on adults and children, and allegations of family violence should be addressed carefully and with appropriate legal advice.

Navigating Family Violence intervention order proceedings and family law disputes at the same time can be complex. Obtaining early advice can help ensure that your safety, your legal rights and the needs of your children are properly addressed across both jurisdictions.

Understanding Coercive Control

Coercive control has recently been criminalised in various Australian states, reflecting growing recognition that family violence is not limited to physical abuse. Coercive control encompasses a pattern of behaviour designed to dominate, isolate, and instil fear in a victim-survivor, including financial abuse, surveillance, threats, manipulation, and the restriction of autonomy.

Critically, research demonstrates that cases involving coercive control, even those without physical violence, can pose a serious risk of lethality for the victim-survivor. Understanding and identifying these patterns is essential to ensuring safety and achieving just legal outcomes.

The Importance of Early Legal Advice & Safety Planning

For those experiencing family violence or coercive control, obtaining legal advice before you leave can be the single most significant factor in the outcome of your case. Early advice allows us to develop a comprehensive safety plan tailored to your circumstances, which may include:

  • Ensuring that, where it is safe to do so, the victim-survivor can remain in the home and with their children, providing stability for the family pending the resolution of all matters

  • Applying for intervention orders or family law injunctions for protection

  • Strategically planning the timing and manner of separation to minimise risk

  • Securing evidence and protecting financial interests before separation becomes known to the other party.

Safety planning prior to separation is often the most important factor in ensuring positive outcomes, both in terms of personal safety and the legal proceedings that follow.

Specialist Advice in Parenting Matters Involving Family Violence

Family violence and coercive control have a profound impact on parenting matters. The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) requires the court to give weight to the need to protect children and the victim-survivor parent from harm. At KHQ Lawyers, my team provide specialist advice and representation in parenting cases where family violence is a factor, including applications for sole parental responsibility, supervised time arrangements, and orders that prioritise the safety of children and the at-risk parent.

Their extensive experience means they understand how to present evidence of family violence and coercive control persuasively and effectively to the court.

“Protecting your future starts with understanding your options.”

If you are thinking about separating, even if you have not decided, an early conversation gives you options you may not have later.

Contact Monica

Frequently asked family violence and coercive control questions.

  • Coercive control is a pattern of abusive behaviour intended to dominate, intimidate, and control another person within an intimate or family relationship. It can include emotional and psychological abuse, financial control, social isolation, monitoring and surveillance, threats, and manipulation. Unlike a single incident of violence, coercive control is characterised by its ongoing, cumulative nature — eroding the victim-survivor's autonomy and sense of safety over time.

  • Coercive control has been criminalised in several Australian states, with legislation progressively being introduced to recognise it as a standalone offence. This reflects growing understanding, informed by domestic and international research, that coercive control is a significant indicator of serious harm and lethality risk, even in the absence of physical violence. The criminalisation has led to greater community awareness and more robust legal protections for victim-survivors.

    Behaviour constituting family violence can give rise to both civil protection orders (intervention orders, AVOs, FVROs) under state and territory legislation and criminal charges under state criminal law. Common criminal offences arising from family violence include assault, sexual assault, stalking, intimidation, property damage, and contravention of an intervention order.

    In a landmark shift, coercive control has now been criminalised as a standalone offence in several Australian states, including Queensland and New South Wales.

    • Queensland enacted a specific coercive control offence in the Criminal Code, which applies where an adult in a domestic relationship engages in a course of conduct consisting of domestic violence on more than one occasion, intends the course of conduct to coerce or control the other person, and the course of conduct would be reasonably likely to cause harm.

    • NSW has introduced a coercive control offence under section 54D of the Crimes Act 1900, which is now expressly included within the definition of "domestic violence offence" under the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007.

    The criminalisation of coercive control represents a significant evolution in the legal response to family violence, recognising that patterns of controlling and coercive behaviour even without physical violence can pose serious risks of harm, including lethality.

  • Family violence is defined broadly under both federal and state legislation. Under section 4AB of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), family violence means violent, threatening or other behaviour by a person that coerces or controls a member of the person's family, or causes the family member to be fearful. The definition is deliberately broad and is not limited to physical violence. Examples of behaviour that may constitute family violence under the Act include:

    • Assault, including sexual assault

    • Stalking

    • Repeated derogatory taunts

    • Intentionally damaging or destroying property

    • Intentionally causing death or injury to an animal

    • Economic or financial abuse, such as unreasonably denying a family member financial autonomy, forcibly controlling money or assets (including superannuation), sabotaging employment, or coercing a family member to take on financial or legal liabilities

    • Preventing a family member from making or keeping connections with family, friends, or culture

    • Unlawfully depriving a family member of their liberty

    • Dowry-related abuse, including coercing a family member to give or seek money or assets as dowry

    Importantly, a child is exposed to family violence if the child sees or hears family violence or otherwise experiences the effects of family violence — including overhearing threats, witnessing assaults, comforting an assaulted family member, or being present when police attend a family violence incident.

  • Obtaining legal advice before separation allows you to plan your departure safely and strategically. A specialist family violence lawyer can help you understand your legal rights, develop a safety plan, apply for protective orders in advance, secure important documents and financial information, and ensure that you and your children are in the strongest possible position when separation occurs. In many cases, early advice is the most significant factor in achieving a safe and favourable outcome.

  • In many cases, yes. The law provides mechanisms — including intervention orders (such as Family Violence Intervention Orders or Apprehended Violence Orders, depending on the state) and exclusive occupation orders under the Family Law Act — that can allow the victim-survivor to remain in the family home while the perpetrator is required to leave. Remaining in the home can provide critical stability for both you and your children during the separation process.  Often this can be combined with interim property applications to ensure that loans and mortgages are paid and reasonable financial support can be provided until final settlement can be reached.

  • Family violence is a central consideration in parenting proceedings under the Family Law Act. The court must consider the need to protect the child and the victim-survivor parent from physical or psychological harm, including harm caused by exposure to family violence. In cases involving family violence, the court may order sole parental responsibility, impose conditions on time spend arrangements (such as supervised contact), or make orders restricting communication between the parties. Evidence of coercive control is increasingly being recognised by the courts as relevant to parenting outcomes.

  • A safety plan is a personalised strategy designed to protect you and your children before, during, and after separation from a violent or controlling partner. A specialist family violence lawyer can assist you in identifying risks, securing protective legal orders, arranging safe accommodation, protecting financial assets, and coordinating with support services such as domestic violence agencies, police, and counsellors. Effective safety planning is tailored to your individual circumstances and is a critical step in achieving a safe transition.

  • Yes. Australian family law and state-based family violence legislation recognise that family violence includes a broad range of behaviours beyond physical assault — including emotional abuse, financial abuse, threats, intimidation, stalking, and coercive control. You do not need to have experienced physical violence to obtain an intervention order or to have family violence taken into account in family law proceedings. If you feel unsafe or controlled in your relationship, you are entitled to seek legal advice and protection.

  • Proving coercive control requires building a detailed picture of the pattern of behaviour over time. Evidence may include text messages, emails, financial records, witness statements, reports from family violence services, medical records, and expert evidence. Because coercive control is often subtle and cumulative — rather than a single dramatic event — specialist legal experience is essential to identifying the pattern, gathering the right evidence, and presenting it effectively to the court.

  • While the Family Law Act governs parenting and property proceedings in federal family law courts, each Australian state and territory has its own legislation dealing with family violence intervention orders (also known as apprehended violence orders, domestic violence orders, or restraining orders, depending on the jurisdiction). The principal state and territory legislation includes (jurisdiction - legislation - order type):

    New South Wales — Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 — Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO)

    Victoria — Family Violence Protection Act 2008 — Family Violence Intervention Order (FVIO)

    Queensland — Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 — Domestic Violence Order (DVO)

    South Australia — Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act 2009 — Intervention Order

    Western Australia — Restraining Orders Act 1997 — Family Violence Restraining Order (FVRO)

    Tasmania — Family Violence Act 2004 — Family Violence Order (FVO)

    Australian Capital Territory — Family Violence Act 2016 — Protection Order

    Northern Territory — Domestic and Family Violence Act 2007 — Domestic Violence Order (DVO).

    Each of these state and territory statutes contains its own definition of family violence or domestic violence. While the specific wording varies, there is increasing alignment across jurisdictions. For example, Queensland defines domestic violence as behaviour, or a pattern of behaviour, that is physically or sexually abusive, emotionally or psychologically abusive, economically abusive, threatening, coercive, or that in any other way controls or dominates and causes fear. Western Australia similarly defines family violence to include violence, threats of violence, or any other behaviour or pattern of behaviour that coerces or controls a family member or causes the member to be fearful. South Australia focuses on acts that result in physical injury, emotional or psychological harm, unreasonable denial of financial, social or personal autonomy, or damage to property.

    These state-based orders are recognised across jurisdictions through national recognition schemes, meaning a domestic violence order made in one state or territory is generally enforceable in all others.

  • State and territory intervention orders and federal family law orders operate in parallel but are designed to coexist. Key intersection points include:

    • Disclosure obligations: When applying for an intervention order, applicants are typically required to disclose any existing orders under the Family Law Act 1975

    • Automatic protection of children: In several jurisdictions, when an intervention order is made for an adult, children with a domestic relationship to that person must also be included as protected persons.

    • Impact on parenting proceedings: Under the Family Law Act, the court must consider the need to protect the child from physical or psychological harm caused by being subjected to, or exposed to, family violence. The existence of state-based intervention orders is a relevant consideration in family law parenting proceedings and can influence orders for sole parental responsibility, supervised time, and other protective arrangements.

I regularly present on family violence to legal, frontline and workplace audiences, including the STOP Domestic Violence Conference. See where here.