Family violence is defined more broadly than many people expect, and importantly, it doesn’t have to be physical. Under Australian law, it includes behaviour that’s threatening, coercive, or that controls a family member through fear, including emotional, psychological, and financial abuse.
This can include financial control, such as cutting someone off from joint funds or money they’re entitled to, intimidation or threats, using children to send messages or create fear, constant monitoring or harassment, and emotionally manipulative behaviour designed to dominate or control. The Court takes these behaviours seriously, and they can significantly affect parenting and property outcomes, not just an Intervention Order application itself.
A lot of people experiencing non-physical family violence don’t initially recognise it as something the law actually addresses, because it doesn’t match the image of family violence they expect. If what you’re experiencing involves control, fear, intimidation, or financial manipulation, even without physical violence, it’s worth raising with us directly. You don’t have to keep absorbing it.