Get up to date on the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 and explore how to identify and approach family violence in your court or hearing room.
The purpose of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 is to promote safety for people who have experienced family violence, reduce its prevalence, and increase accountability of those who use family violence.
The College has developed a Family Violence Bench Book, which provides a detailed explanation of the legislation and the social context of family violence.
The resources on this page complement those in the bench book by providing a deeper exploration of the complex dynamics of family violence and explanation of coercive control and its significant impacts.
The College uses the terms ‘affected family member’ and ‘respondent’ to refer to parties involved in a family violence intervention order proceeding. The term ‘offender’ is used to refer to a person who has been found guilty of a criminal offence. The terms ‘complainant’ and ‘accused’ are used where an allegation of offending has been made.
A key case on mens rea in s 123 of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008. This case note summarises the decision and the majority's guidance on the relationship between the physical element and the fault element of this offence.
External Link SOCIAL CONTEXTAward-winning author Jess Hill explores the impact of coercive control and how it may play out in a hearing.
The Power and control wheel identifies specific aspects of the power and control dynamic present in family violence matters.
At the centre of the wheel is 'POWER AND CONTROL'. The word 'VIOLENCE' is accompanied by the words 'PHYSICAL' and 'SEXUAL' on the outer rim. These terms on the rim of the circle demonstrate how power and control can be forced in an explicit way through sexual and physical means. The circle is divided into sections, demonstrating other ways power and control is wrongfully pervaded. The sections display clockwise:
Using intimidation – Making her afraid by using looks, actions, gestures; smashing things; destroying her property; abusing pets; displaying weapons.
Using emotional abuse – Putting her down; making her feel bad about herself; calling her names; making her think she's crazy; playing mind games; humiliating her; making her feel guilty.
Using isolation – Controlling what she does, who she sees and talks to, what she reads, where she goes; limiting her outside involvement; using jealousy to justify actions.
Minimizing, denying & blaming – Making light of the abuse and not taking her concerns about it seriously; saying the abuse didn't happen; shifting responsibility for abusive behaviour; saying she caused it.
Using children – Making her feel guilty about the children; using the children to relay messages; using the visitation to harass her; threatening to take the children away.
Using male privilege – Treating her like a servant; making all the big decisions; acting like the 'master of the castle'; being the one to define men's and women's roles.
Using economic abuse – Preventing her from getting or keeping a job; making her ask for money; giving her an allowance; taking her money; not letting her know about or have access to family income.
Using coercion and threats – Making and/or carrying out threats to do something to hurt her; threatening to leave her, to commit suicide, to report her to welfare; making her drop charges; making her do illegal things.
