From 10 June 2025, the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (“the Act”) now explicitly requires the Court to consider the impacts of family violence when determining property settlements and spousal maintenance applications.

Since the landmark case of Kennon & Kennon [1997] FamCA 27 family violence has relevant in determining property matters, however, this decision is only now being codified into the legislation. It is now a requirement in all property matters, for the Court to consider the impact of family violence.

The amendments are significant in acknowledging the multifaceted nature of family violence and its long-standing economic impacts on victim survivors.

Definition of Family Violence

Family violence has long been defined under the Act as “violent, threatening or other behaviour by a person that coerces or controls a member of the person’s family or causes the family member to be fearful”.

Under this definition, the new amendments now provide clear and practicable examples of what may constitute economic or financial abuse. These examples include;

1. Controlling a partner’s money or access to assets;
2. Sabotaging their job or income; 
3. Forcing them into debt or liabilities;
4. Unreasonably withholding financial support;
5. Coercing them to agree with dowry demands.

The Consideration of Family Violence in Property Matters

The legislation now explicitly acknowledges that family violence must be considered by the Court when determining the parties’ contributions and future needs. This means that when a Court decides how the party’s asset pool should be divided they must consider;

2. Whether family violence impaired the victim’s ability to contribute financially or in non-financially during the relationship; and
3. Whether the impacts of family violence will impact the victims ability to support themselves in the future?

If a finding is made that the family violence experienced during a relationship negatively impacted a party’s ability to make contributions and/or will likely have an impact on their future needs, the Court may make an adjustment in that party’s favour to ensure they receive a larger percentage of the asset pool.

We are hopeful that these amendments will result in more victims of family violence receiving an adjustment to account for the effects of family violence experiencing during a relationship.

Do These Changes Impact You?

These changes not only impact new family law proceedings, but also existing family law proceedings which have not yet commenced a final hearing.

For individuals affected by these changes, we recommend you seek specialised legal advice to understand how the new amendments may influence your entitlements under family law.