Published: 23 March 2026
If you have recently been charged or had an AVO taken out against you, you may be asking yourself: does what I did actually count as domestic violence? For many people, the honest answer is that they did not know. The law in NSW has expanded significantly in recent years, and the legal definition of domestic violence covers a wide range of behaviour that has nothing to do with physical violence.
As Matthew Ward, Principal Solicitor at Morrisons, explains:
“A lot of it does not involve physical acts. There are often, of course, assaults, pushes, hits, punches, kicks. But there’s a lot of damage to property, a lot of threats, a lot of harassment in terms of multiple phone calls and messages. It’s not just doing a physical act — it can be a wider array of non-physical conduct that can result in AVOs or charges that will separate families or separate people from their homes.”
This article explains the legal definition, the types of relationships it covers, and the specific behaviours that can result in charges or an Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO), even where no physical contact occurred. At Morrisons, our criminal defence lawyers represent people across Wollongong, Campbelltown, and the Illawarra who are navigating domestic violence charges.
How NSW Law Defines Domestic Violence
It Is Not Just Physical Violence
There is no single offence in NSW called “domestic violence”. Instead, the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 defines domestic and family violence as any behaviour that is violent, threatening, coercive or controlling, and causes a person to live in fear. From 1 February 2024, NSW introduced a formal legal definition of “domestic abuse” under section 6A of that Act, which considerably expanded the categories of conduct that can ground a charge or support an AVO application.
The definition covers a single incident or a pattern of behaviour over time — threats, intimidation, financial control, technology-facilitated abuse, and behaviour that isolates a person from their family, culture, or community. You can read more about how these changes have evolved under NSW domestic violence law over recent years.
Who Counts as a Domestic Relationship Under NSW Law?
One of the most common misconceptions is that domestic violence only applies to romantic partners or married couples. The law is far broader. A domestic relationship in NSW includes people who are, or have been:
- In an intimate personal relationship, whether or not it is, or has been, sexual in nature
- Living together in the same household
- Related by blood, marriage, de facto partnership, adoption or fostering
- Carers or care recipients of one another
- Members of the same Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander extended family or kinship group
- A person’s ex-partner, and that ex-partner’s current partner
This means the offence can apply to housemates, an adult child and their parent, or a carer and the person they support. The relationship type directly affects whether the charge will be dealt with as a domestic violence allegation.
Conduct That Can Be Alleged as Domestic Violence Without Physical Contact
Can Words or Threats Lead to a Charge?
Yes – and it is one of the most common bases for charges clients do not see coming. Under section 13 of the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act, stalking or intimidating another person with the intention of causing fear of physical or mental harm carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment. The prosecution does not need to prove the other person actually feared harm — only that you knew your conduct was likely to cause it.
A common scenario: a couple going through a breakup where one partner says angry things in the heat of the moment after discovering infidelity. That conduct – even without physical contact – can meet the threshold for intimidation. Similarly, sending aggressive messages or making 20 to 30 calls over the course of a night can result in a charge of using a carriage service to menace, harass, or offend. And if you damage property that is not solely yours — including something you gave as a gift – that can be malicious damage to property and is a domestic violence offence.
Can Financial Control, Location Tracking, or Isolation Be Alleged Against You?
Under the 2024 definition, financial conduct is now explicitly in scope. If a complainant alleges you withheld access to money, prevented them from working, or created debt in their name without consent, that may be characterised as domestic abuse where it forms part of a broader pattern of conduct. The same applies to tracking someone’s location via apps such as Life360 or Snapchat, installing software on their device without consent, or conduct that isolates them from family, friends, or cultural community.
Under section 6A, isolation is explicitly recognised as domestic abuse and can support an AVO application or contribute to a coercive control charge. These allegations are often based on a complainant’s account across a relationship over time, which is why early legal advice matters.
What Is Coercive Control and Why Is It Now a Criminal Offence?
From 1 July 2024, coercive control became a standalone criminal offence in NSW, carrying a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment – higher than common assault (two years), assault occasioning actual bodily harm (five years), or intimidation (five years). It applies to current and former intimate partners only.
Matthew Ward explains what the prosecution must prove:
“It has to be a course of conduct – so it’s trying to capture multiple acts over a period of time. The accused must have an intention – proven beyond reasonable doubt – that the conduct was intended to coerce or control the person, not just harass them but to control their conduct. And then a reasonable person must consider the course of conduct would cause fear to the person or have a serious adverse impact on their capacity to go about their day-to-day life.”
This means a charge can now be built from a pattern of conduct across a relationship rather than a single incident. Conduct that individually might not have resulted in a charge – monitoring messages, limiting access to money, repeated criticism or humiliation – can be aggregated into a coercive control charge. The prosecution can draw on text messages, bank records, witness accounts, and medical reports across a long period. If you are facing this type of allegation, get legal advice as soon as possible.
What Happens After a Domestic Violence Allegation?
AVOs, Charges, and Bail Conditions
In most domestic violence matters, NSW Police will apply for an ADVO at the same time as laying charges – or sometimes without laying charges at all. As Matthew Ward explains: “That will always be there. The AVO is the bare minimum for any domestic incident.” A provisional ADVO takes effect immediately upon service – before any court hearing – and you must comply with it from that moment. You do not need to be convicted, or even charged, for an ADVO to be made against you.
According to the NSW Local Court, when served with an ADVO application you will need to attend court and decide whether to consent to or contest the order. Getting legal advice before that first court date is important, because what you agree to at that early stage can affect your living arrangements, your contact with children, and your employment.
Breaching an ADVO is a serious matter in its own right. The base offence carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment. Under laws that came into effect in late 2024, intentional breaches now carry up to three years, and persistent breaches up to five years. A breach charge on top of an existing domestic violence matter can worsen your position at sentencing.
How Quickly Things Can Escalate
Once police are involved, events move quickly. You can be arrested, held overnight, and brought before a court the following morning. Bail conditions can restrict where you live and who you contact before any charges are proven. If you are convicted of a domestic violence offence, sentencing is governed by section 4A of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999, which creates a presumption in favour of full-time custody or a supervised order in certain circumstances. The court can depart from this but must give reasons for doing so. For more on what sentencing may look like, see our article on whether you will go to jail for a first-time domestic violence offence in NSW.
What Should You Do If You Have Been Charged?
The most important thing you can do is seek legal advice before taking any action. Matthew Ward recommends contacting a lawyer as soon as police come to investigate:
“Anything they may say or talk about there may influence what happens, and may also be evidence used against them. If they are arrested and taken to the police station, definitely at that point. And at the very latest, when they’ve received their court attendance notice or AVO.”
Do not contact the person named in the complaint, even if you believe the situation has been misunderstood. Police body cameras are typically recording, and what you say in the heat of the moment can be used as evidence. Matthew Ward also advises preserving evidence:
“Keep your messages, don’t delete all your contacts. Screenshot the stuff sent on Snapchat or socials before you block them – what someone is saying or feeling at the time in writing can be quite powerful.”
Comply fully with any AVO or bail conditions in place. Breaching them will make your situation significantly worse. Where children are involved, criminal law and family law operate as separate processes – a family lawyer needs to handle parenting plans and contact arrangements, while we handle the criminal matter. These two things must work together: a written parenting agreement can support an application to vary AVO conditions to facilitate contact.
Our criminal defence lawyers at Morrisons have extensive experience representing people charged with domestic violence offences across NSW, including Wollongong and Campbelltown. Visit our domestic violence defence page to learn more, or see our related articles on what is an AVO and how does it work in NSW, does verbal abuse count as domestic violence, and what is coercive control in NSW.
Key Takeaways
Understanding what is domestic violence under NSW law is the first step toward navigating an allegation effectively. The definition is broad: it covers non-physical behaviour including threats, financial control, surveillance, and isolation. It applies across a wide range of domestic relationships, not just romantic partnerships. And since July 2024, patterns of coercive and controlling conduct are a standalone criminal offence.
If you have been charged, served with an AVO, or believe a complaint may be made against you, the timing of legal advice matters. The earlier you speak to a lawyer, the more options you have.
Morrisons has been representing clients in criminal and domestic violence matters across the Illawarra and Southern Highlands for decades. Book a free consultation with our team today to understand your position and your next steps.
