What is Family Violence?
Family violence is defined as behaviour by a person towards a family member which is physically, sexually, emotionally, psychologically or economically abusive. It is also behaviour that is threatening, coercive or in any other way controlling, dominating or makes another person fear for their safety or wellbeing.
Children can experience family violence just by being exposed to it.
Family violence does not always occur within the family home and may involve monitoring and tracking you or controlling your finances.
It is a misconception that family violence is always physical. The use of threats and intimidating behaviour that causes fear in a person or isolates, belittles or intimidates a person are all forms of family violence.
What to do if you are in a relationship involving Family Violence
If you are in a relationship involving family violence it can be difficult to know where to turn, or how to leave the relationship safely. We have developed a resource to guide you through it and towards developing a safety plan.
You will likely need some legal advice to empower you to make a move. You may need to obtain an intervention order to protect yourself from family violence. Your first appointment with us is free, and at this time we can give you confidential and sensitive advice about your circumstances.
What to expect at your free first appointment
Your safety and wellbeing, and the safety and wellbeing of your children is our number one priority. You’ll have an opportunity to tell your story and we can then give you some preliminary advice. It is important to us that while providing you with advice about your legal matter, we also link you to a range of crucial non-legal services such as financial, housing and wellbeing services.
We take your privacy concerns extremely seriously. You can talk to us about where you want your mail sent, whether you would like us to call you or wait for you to call us, and we never disclose your personal information to third parties.
After we have taken some information and given some preliminary advice, we can talk to you about fees and payment structures to suit your circumstances.
