The Family Law Act defines family violence as
Family violence – means violent, threatening or other behaviour by a person that coerces or controls a member of the person’s family (the family member), or causes the family member to be fearful. A child is exposed to family violence if the child sees or hears family violence or is otherwise exposed to family violence. The Family Law Act, section 4AB, gives examples. Family violence may also amount to child abuse. Abuse – in relation to a child means,
(a) an assault, including a sexual assault, of the child; or
(b) a person (the first person) involving the child in a sexual activity with the first person or another person in which the child is used, directly or indirectly, as a sexual object by the first person or the other person, and where there is an unequal power in the relationship between the child and the first person; or
(c) causing the child to suffer serious psychological harm, including (but not limited to) when that harm is caused by the child being subjected to, or exposed to, family violence; or
(d) serious neglect of the child.
The Court's Family Violence Committee considered that a more comprehensive description of the elements of violence was needed to meet the objectives of the Family Violence strategy. To meet this need the following description has been adopted by the Court:
Family violence covers a broad range of controlling behaviours, commonly of a physical, sexual, and/or psychological nature, which typically involve fear, harm, intimidation and emotional deprivation. It occurs within a variety of close interpersonal relationships, such as between spouses, partners, parents and children, siblings, andin other relationships where significant others are not part of the physical household but are part of the family and/or are fulfilling the function of family.
Common forms of violence in families include: