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How does preventing someone from maintaining connections with their family constitute family violence in Queensland?

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How does preventing someone from maintaining connections with their family constitute family violence in Queensland?

The Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 (Qld) defines domestic violence to include emotional or psychological abuse. Section 11 of the Act expressly provides that emotional or psychological abuse is behaviour (or a pattern of behaviour) that:

“… prevents a person from making or keeping connections with the person’s family, friends or culture, including cultural or spiritual ceremonies or practices, or preventing the person from expressing the person’s cultural identity.”^[1]

Thus, when a partner, spouse, or family member deliberately stops you from seeing, talking to, or otherwise maintaining relationships with your own family (or friends, cultural group), that conduct is recognised as a form of domestic and family violence under Queensland law.

Examples of this behaviour

Conduct that may amount to preventing family connections includes:

  • Refusing to let you visit or speak with your parents, siblings, or extended family.
  • Monitoring or intercepting your phone calls, messages, or letters to/from family members.
  • Insisting that you cut ties with your family as a condition of staying in the relationship.
  • Moving you far away from your family without your consent, making regular contact difficult or impossible.
  • Constantly criticising your family or spreading false rumours to turn you against them.
  • Controlling transport or finances so that you cannot afford to travel to see your family.
  • Using threats or intimidation to stop you from attending family gatherings, cultural ceremonies, or religious practices.
  • Isolating you from your support network by preventing you from accessing community services or religious institutions that your family attends.

These behaviours are typical of coercive control and are intended to make you dependent on the abuser and vulnerable to further abuse.

Relevance to protection orders (DVOs)

If you are being isolated from your family, you can seek a Domestic Violence Order (DVO) under the Protection Act. The DVO can contain specific conditions to protect your family connections, such as:

  • Prohibiting the respondent from approaching, contacting, or communicating with named family members (e.g., mother, father, siblings).
  • Exclusion zones around family homes, places of worship, or community centres where your family gathers.
  • Restricting the respondent from using certain forms of communication (e.g., banning them from calling your relatives or sending messages).
  • Ordering the respondent to refrain from making disparaging remarks about your family or from interfering with your attempts to maintain contact.

The court will consider evidence of isolation when deciding whether to make a final protection order and what conditions are necessary to ensure your safety and ability to maintain family ties.

Relevance to family law property settlements

While the primary remedy for isolation is a protection order, the conduct can also be relevant in a property settlement:

  • Contributions – If isolation prevented you from working, studying, or performing homemaking/parenting duties (e.g., because you were unable to access childcare or support from family), the court may take this into account when assessing your contributions under s 79(4) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).
  • Future needs – Loss of familial support, increased need for external childcare or financial assistance, and emotional trauma from isolation can affect your future needs under s 75(2)(o).
  • Credibility – Findings of family violence, including isolation, help the court understand the context of the relationship and may influence the weight given to contributions and future needs arguments.

Practical steps if you are affected

  1. Document the isolation – Keep a record of incidents (e.g., dates you were prevented from visiting family, messages threatening to cut you off, photos of blocked travel routes).
  2. Seek support – Talk to trusted friends, community services, or cultural/religious leaders who can provide assistance and corroborate your experience.
  3. Report to Police – If the isolation involves threats, intimidation, or unlawful confinement, you can report it to Police; they may investigate under the Criminal Code or the Protection Act.
  4. Apply for a DVO – Visit your local Magistrates Court or use the Queensland Courts website to apply for a protection order, citing the prevention of family connections as emotional/psychological abuse.
  5. Obtain legal advice – Community legal centres, Legal Aid Queensland, or a family lawyer can help you navigate the DVO process and any related family law matters.

See also

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