sec.8Meaning of domestic violence

### sec.8 Meaning of domestic violence Domestic violence means behaviour, or a pattern of behaviour, by a person (the first person ) towards another person (the second person ) with whom the first person is in a relevant relationship that— is physically or sexually abusive; or is emotionally or psychologically abusive; or is economically abusive; or is threatening; or is coercive; or in any other way controls or dominates the second person and causes the second person to fear for the second person’s safety or wellbeing or that of someone else. Behaviour, or a pattern of behaviour, mentioned in subsection (1) — may occur over a period of time; and may be more than 1 act, or a series of acts, that when considered cumulatively is abusive, threatening, coercive or causes fear in a way mentioned in that subsection; and is to be considered in the context of the relationship between the first person and the second person as a whole. Without limiting subsection (1) or (2) , domestic violence includes the following behaviour— causing personal injury to a person or threatening to do so; coercing a person to engage in sexual activity or attempting to do so; damaging a person’s property or threatening to do so; depriving a person of the person’s liberty or threatening to do so; threatening a person with the death or injury of the person, a child of the person, or someone else; threatening to commit suicide or self-harm so as to torment, intimidate or frighten the person to whom the behaviour is directed; causing or threatening to cause the death of, or injury to, an animal, whether or not the animal belongs to the person to whom the behaviour is directed, so as to control, dominate or coerce the person; unauthorised surveillance of a person; unlawfully stalking, intimidating, harassing or abusing a person. A person who counsels or procures someone else to engage in behaviour that, if engaged in by the person, would be domestic violence is taken to have committed domestic violence. To remove any doubt, it is declared that, for behaviour mentioned in subsection (3) that may constitute a criminal offence, a court may make an order under this Act on the basis that the behaviour is domestic violence even if the behaviour is not proved beyond a reasonable doubt. In this section— coerce , a person, means compel or force a person to do, or refrain from doing, something. unauthorised surveillance , of a person, means the unreasonable monitoring or tracking of the person’s movements, activities or interpersonal associations without the person’s consent, including, for example, by using technology. reading a person’s SMS messages monitoring a person’s email account or internet browser history monitoring a person’s account with a social networking internet site using a GPS device to track a person’s movements checking the recorded history in a person’s GPS device unlawful stalking, intimidation, harassment or abuse see the Criminal Code , sections 359B and 359D . s 8 amd 2023 No. 1 s 31 (sec.8-ssec.1) Domestic violence means behaviour, or a pattern of behaviour, by a person (the first person ) towards another person (the second person ) with whom the first person is in a relevant relationship that— is physically or sexually abusive; or is emotionally or psychologically abusive; or is economically abusive; or is threatening; or is coercive; or in any other way controls or dominates the second person and causes the second person to fear for the second person’s safety or wellbeing or that of someone else. (sec.8-ssec.2) Behaviour, or a pattern of behaviour, mentioned in subsection (1) — may occur over a period of time; and may be more than 1 act, or a series of acts, that when considered cumulatively is abusive, threatening, coercive or causes fear in a way mentioned in that subsection; and is to be considered in the context of the relationship between the first person and the second person as a whole. (sec.8-ssec.3) Without limiting subsection (1) or (2) , domestic violence includes the following behaviour— causing personal injury to a person or threatening to do so; coercing a person to engage in sexual activity or attempting to do so; damaging a person’s property or threatening to do so; depriving a person of the person’s liberty or threatening to do so; threatening a person with the death or injury of the person, a child of the person, or someone else; threatening to commit suicide or self-harm so as to torment, intimidate or frighten the person to whom the behaviour is directed; causing or threatening to cause the death of, or injury to, an animal, whether or not the animal belongs to the person to whom the behaviour is directed, so as to control, dominate or coerce the person; unauthorised surveillance of a person; unlawfully stalking, intimidating, harassing or abusing a person. (sec.8-ssec.4) A person who counsels or procures someone else to engage in behaviour that, if engaged in by the person, would be domestic violence is taken to have committed domestic violence. (sec.8-ssec.5) To remove any doubt, it is declared that, for behaviour mentioned in subsection (3) that may constitute a criminal offence, a court may make an order under this Act on the basis that the behaviour is domestic violence even if the behaviour is not proved beyond a reasonable doubt. (sec.8-ssec.6) In this section— coerce , a person, means compel or force a person to do, or refrain from doing, something. unauthorised surveillance , of a person, means the unreasonable monitoring or tracking of the person’s movements, activities or interpersonal associations without the person’s consent, including, for example, by using technology. reading a person’s SMS messages monitoring a person’s email account or internet browser history monitoring a person’s account with a social networking internet site using a GPS device to track a person’s movements checking the recorded history in a person’s GPS device unlawful stalking, intimidation, harassment or abuse see the Criminal Code , sections 359B and 359D . - (a) is physically or sexually abusive; or - (b) is emotionally or psychologically abusive; or - (c) is economically abusive; or - (d) is threatening; or - (e) is coercive; or - (f) in any other way controls or dominates the second person and causes the second person to fear for the second person’s safety or wellbeing or that of someone else. - (a) may occur over a period of time; and - (b) may be more than 1 act, or a series of acts, that when considered cumulatively is abusive, threatening, coercive or causes fear in a way mentioned in that subsection; and - (c) is to be considered in the context of the relationship between the first person and the second person as a whole. - (a) causing personal injury to a person or threatening to do so; - (b) coercing a person to engage in sexual activity or attempting to do so; - (c) damaging a person’s property or threatening to do so; - (d) depriving a person of the person’s liberty or threatening to do so; - (e) threatening a person with the death or injury of the person, a child of the person, or someone else; - (f) threatening to commit suicide or self-harm so as to torment, intimidate or frighten the person to whom the behaviour is directed; - (g) causing or threatening to cause the death of, or injury to, an animal, whether or not the animal belongs to the person to whom the behaviour is directed, so as to control, dominate or coerce the person; - (h) unauthorised surveillance of a person; - (i) unlawfully stalking, intimidating, harassing or abusing a person. - • reading a person’s SMS messages - • monitoring a person’s email account or internet browser history - • monitoring a person’s account with a social networking internet site - • using a GPS device to track a person’s movements - • checking the recorded history in a person’s GPS device