Criminal Code Act 1899

Domestic violence means behaviour by a person (the first person) towards another person (the second person) with whom the first person is in a domestic relationship that—

is physically or sexually abusive; or

is emotionally or psychologically abusive; or

is economically abusive; or

is threatening; or

is coercive; or

in any other way controls or dominates the second person and causes the second person to fear for the second person’s safety or wellbeing or that of someone else.

Behaviour mentioned in subsection (1)—

may occur over a period of time; and

may be more than 1 act, or a series of acts, that when considered cumulatively is abusive, threatening, coercive or causes fear in a way mentioned in that subsection; and

is to be considered in the context of the relationship between the first person and the second person as a whole.

Without limiting subsection (1) or (2), domestic violence includes the following behaviour—

causing personal injury to a person or threatening to do so;

coercing a person to engage in sexual activity or attempting to do so;

damaging a person’s property or threatening to do so;

depriving a person of the person’s liberty or threatening to do so;

threatening a person with the death or injury of the person, a child of the person, or someone else;

threatening to commit suicide or self-harm so as to torment, intimidate or frighten the person to whom the behaviour is directed;

causing or threatening to cause the death of, or injury to, an animal, whether or not the animal belongs to the person to whom the behaviour is directed, so as to control, dominate or coerce the person;

unauthorised or unreasonable surveillance of a person;

unlawfully stalking, intimidating, harassing or abusing a person;

making a person dependent on, or subordinate to, another person;

isolating a person from friends, relatives or other sources of support;

controlling, regulating or monitoring a person’s day-to-day activities;

depriving a person of, or restricting a person’s, freedom of action;

frightening, humiliating, degrading or punishing a person.

In this section—coerce, a person, means compel or force a person to do, or refrain from doing, something.unlawful stalking, intimidation, harassment or abuse see sections 359B and 359D. sch 1 pt 5 ch 29A s 334B ins 2024 No. 5 s 20