Evidence That Supports a Family Violence Property Claim

A family violence property argument needs evidence of the conduct and evidence of its financial effect. People often have detailed records of what happened but far less showing the lost income, added debt or reduced contributions that followed.

What tends to do the work is ordinary paperwork. Bank and loan records, medical notes, police or Domestic Violence Order material, employment records, messages, and a dated chronology that ties each incident to lost income, debt, reduced contributions or some other economic effect.

For property proceedings commenced on or after 10 June 2025, the Family Law Amendment Act 2024 expressly requires courts to consider the effect of family violence on contributions and on current and future circumstances, whatever the nature of the family relationship. Check the transitional rules and the provisions that apply to your case before relying on that framework. They may also apply to earlier proceedings that had not been finally determined, unless the final hearing had already commenced. It's part of a wider shift in the family law system toward treating economic harm as squarely relevant to property outcomes.

If you are in immediate danger, call 000. This page deals with the legal and evidentiary side only.

Everything below is about gathering and preserving proof and linking conduct to consequence. For the legal test the court applies, read our separate guide to the four-step process for property settlement.

Money is one of the few forms of family violence that keeps its own records. That makes it, in some ways, easier to prove than the rest, and in family law property matters that record often becomes the case.

Victims of family violence often already hold more proof than they realise. The task is building a pattern of control, deprivation or damage, rather than hunting for one damning transaction.

Where that pattern usually lives:

Now, the important part. Order it by date, because grouping by category buries the sequence a court needs to see: the separation, then the withdrawals, then the missed mortgage payments. That sequence is what shows the connection between the conduct and the alleged wastage or dissipation of assets.

And download the statements while you still can. Joint-account access has a habit of disappearing after separation, and rebuilding the trail afterwards is slow and expensive. Pull your credit reports too. An application you don't recognise, or a default you've never heard of, is often the first sign that debt was created in your name without your knowledge.

The Kennon argument comes from Kennon v Kennon [1997] FamCA 27. It recognised that a course of violent conduct could be relevant where it had a significant adverse effect on the victim-survivor's contributions, or made those contributions significantly more arduous. Courts have said repeatedly that the effect can be very hard to reduce to a precise figure.

That principle remains live case law. The statutory framework has simply moved past treating it as the only route. For marriages, the operative provisions are now sections 79(4)(ca) and 79(5)(a) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), with corresponding provisions for eligible de facto property matters. They point at both contributions and current and future circumstances, and courts now weigh the impact of family violence on those contributions directly when determining property division.

So what does that mean for the evidence you need to assemble? One or both of two propositions. What you kept contributing at home or at work despite the violence. And what the violence is still costing you now, whether that is reduced earning capacity, depleted superannuation, debt or health expenses.

Non-judicial evidence is material that did not come out of a court or police proceeding. It matters because a great deal of family violence is never formally reported at all, and a file with no police record in it is not an empty file.

Worth gathering:

Medical records first. GP notes may give you dated, independent records of reported symptoms, injuries or events, though their significance always depends on what they actually say and what else sits alongside them. Counselling and psychology records are a different proposition. Access, privilege and admissibility all get complicated, so ask your lawyer whether those records should be requested at all and how they might be used.

Employment records are frequently the ones people overlook. Absence patterns, performance discussions, a drop from full-time to part-time, a role you turned down. Any of those can support an earning-capacity argument.

With messages and emails, keep the date and sender visible and export the whole thread rather than the useful bits. Selective screenshots invite the obvious response, which is that the missing context changes everything. Same principle with photographs: keep the original file so any available metadata survives.

Don't discount people who saw the effects rather than the violence. A relative who lent money for groceries, a neighbour who saw someone leave during the night, a colleague who quietly covered shifts. Their evidence can still be relevant.

Your own contemporaneous notes or diary can help establish chronology. How much weight a note carries depends on when and why it was made, whether it sits consistently with everything else and what the evidence rules allow.

Then keep all of it somewhere a former partner cannot reach. A new email account, a cloud folder with a fresh password, a trusted person's house. Not on a shared device, and not on an account someone else can open through a family phone plan.

A Queensland Domestic Violence Order made under the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 (Qld) may corroborate evidence in a property case. It won't resolve property disputes on its own. The two processes answer different questions.

The material generated along the way is often more useful than the order itself. Depending on what exists and what can lawfully be obtained, that might include an application, an affidavit, a police protection notice, a court record or police material. None of it is handed over automatically, so ask your lawyer which records are available and whether a formal request, subpoena or court order is needed to get them.

Two cautions cut in opposite directions here. An order made by consent without admissions does not, on its own, establish that the alleged conduct occurred. And the absence of any order does not stop a person raising evidence that family violence has occurred, because family violence may never be reported at all. Plenty of people who have experienced family violence never apply for one. Our domestic violence lawyers page sets out the Queensland protection process separately.

You rarely prove emotional, psychological or coercive control with one document. You prove it by documenting what it left behind, then assembling a pattern from sources that look trivial one at a time and become difficult to explain away once they are put in order.

What tends to build that pattern:

• Message volume and timing, such as repeated calls during work or late at night, shown through phone records.
• Location tracking, monitoring apps or demands to report movements, evidenced by device settings or an app subscription sitting on a bank statement.
• Isolation, including cancelled plans and family members who can date when contact changed.
• Third-party observations from a GP, school, child care centre or workplace.
• Financial records showing the same pattern of control, because economic and psychological abuse tend to run together.

Take a hypothetical. Someone drops from full-time work to three days a week as coercive behaviour escalates, and never goes back to full-time hours. Payslips establish the timing. An HR record and a GP note add context. Messages show the pressure not to work. Superannuation statements reveal the gap that is still widening.

Each document says little by itself. Together, they tell a consistent story about the conduct and what it cost.

Section 4AB of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) defines family violence as violent, threatening or other behaviour that coerces or controls a family member, or causes that person to be fearful. Economic conduct is squarely inside that definition.

The listed examples run wider than most people expect. Physical violence, threats, stalking, repeated derogatory taunts, damage to property, harming animals, unlawfully depriving someone of their liberty, and cutting a person off from family, friends or culture. Unreasonably denying financial autonomy is there. So is withholding the financial support someone needs for reasonable living expenses.

This matters more than it might sound. Physical violence is not required. Neither is a criminal conviction or a police report. What evidence in family law proceedings has to address is the conduct alleged, whether a person was affected by family violence, and the financial consequence that bears on the property decision.

Use the QFLP evidence chronology below. It records the conduct, the file that supports it, the immediate financial consequence, any continuing effect and what corroboration you are still missing.

Download the QFLP family violence evidence chronology (CSV).

Work backwards from separation if that is easier than starting at the beginning. Approximate dates are fine, provided you mark them clearly as estimates. Download statements for the relevant accounts, loans, credit cards and superannuation funds before access changes, then list the third-party records that will need to be requested through a lawful process.

Preserve complete message threads and original photo files. Where the records let you, attach a number to each incident. Missed shifts, medical costs, repair expenses, a drop in salary.

One firm limit. Do not get material by going into another person's account or device. If you are unsure whether you are entitled to something, record that uncertainty in the lawful-access column and ask a family lawyer before you go looking.

Bring the chronology and a list of what you hold to the first appointment. It shows very quickly whether the economic-effect argument is carried by documents, needs further corroboration, or is going to rest largely on affidavit evidence.

Get advice before you disclose sensitive evidence to a former partner, and before you sign anything. How and when this material is raised affects negotiations, personal safety and the prospects of resolving the property dispute.

The clock matters too. Court guidance states that most married parties must commence financial or property proceedings within 12 months after a divorce order takes effect, while most de facto applications must be filed within two years after the relationship ends. Different rules and possible exceptions apply, so check your own position promptly against section 44 of the Family Law Act and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia's financial proceedings practice direction. Our property settlement time limit page goes through the practical issues.

Do I need a Domestic Violence Order to raise family violence in my property settlement? No. An order may provide corroboration, but it is not a precondition. A claim may instead rely on medical and financial records, messages, witness evidence and affidavit material.

Can I use recordings of my former partner as evidence? Be careful. Recording a private conversation to which you are a party raises different issues from intercepting a communication you are not part of. Admissibility is another question again. Get legal advice before you record anything, and before you rely on a recording you already have.

How far back can evidence go? Evidence may reach back to the conduct and economic effect relied upon. Older records can matter where they explain a career interruption or a superannuation gap that still affects your financial position today.

Does family violence mean I get a bigger share of the property pool? Not automatically. The consideration of family violence forms part of a broader assessment. The evidence has to show how the conduct affected contributions, assets or current and future circumstances relevant to the division of property.

Can I still use evidence of family violence if we settle by consent? Yes. Its economic effect can inform negotiations or family dispute resolution, and the court must still decide whether proposed consent orders in Queensland are just and equitable.

What if I have almost no documents? Affidavit evidence and lawfully obtained third-party records may give you a starting point. Raise the gap at the first appointment rather than delaying advice while you try to assemble a perfect file. If cost is a barrier, legal aid or a community legal centre may help you gather records early.

We advise Queensland clients on both property settlements and domestic violence matters. Bring your chronology and whatever records you already hold. We can tell you what they support, what is missing, and what else your family law matters may still need.

Book a consultation through the QFLP contact page.