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Domestic violence

How to report domestic and family violence (DFV)

Is domestic violence occurring? Is someone in immediate danger?

Contact the police on Triple Zero (000)

For all other DFV-related matters, phone police on 131 444, 24 hours, 7 days a week.

Alternatively, you can make contact with a police officer by submitting an online inquiry form:

Request contact with police

You may also attend any police station across Queensland to report DFV.

As an alternative means of contacting police, vulnerable persons in Queensland can contact police for non-urgent matters through SMS messaging.

Register for SMS messaging

Domestic and family violence (DFV)

Domestic and family violence (DFV) is a violation of human rights. Although DFV is prevalent across all communities and cultures within Australia, some individuals and population groups are more vulnerable and likely to experience higher rates of DFV, in addition to barriers to seeking and obtaining support. These include:

  • People from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
  • People from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds
  • People who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer or another identity (LGBTIQ+)
  • The elderly
  • People with disabilities
  • Women
  • Children and
  • People from regional, rural and remote communities.

The Queensland Police Service is committed to keeping our communities safe from DFV, collaborating with the DFV service sector and partner agencies to deliver integrated service responses that protect victim survivors and hold perpetrators to account. There is a range of specialist DFV services to support victim survivors, including the vulnerable persons identified above. Find out more on DVconnect.

Watch the video: What is domestic violence?

Identifying domestic and family violence (DFV)

We all play a pivotal role in ending DFV and the Queensland Police Service cannot do this alone. The QPS acknowledges the role our partners in government agencies, non-government organisations and the community have in working together, to prevent, disrupt, respond and investigate DFV. 

Sometimes people may not realise they are in an abusive relationship or they are experiencing DFV, as it can manifest in many different ways, and often occurs behind closed doors. Friends or family may be the first to identify certain behaviours in their friend's or loved one’s relationship aren’t quite right. 

If something doesn’t feel right, it is best to speak with a DFV professional about what you are feeling and experiencing. To end DFV, it’s important to build community understanding so that all Queenslanders can identify what DFV is and understand the need to safely engage and support victims, identifying support options available to those experiencing DFV as well as those who are perpetrating violence or at risk of doing so. 

Watch victim/survivor videos

What is DFV

Domestic violence means behaviour, or a pattern of behaviour by a person directed towards another person, with whom the parties are in a relevant relationship, that:

  1. is physically or sexually abusive, or
  2. is emotionally or psychologically abusive, or 
  3. is threatening or 
  4. is coercive or 
  5. in any other way controls or dominates a person and causes that person to fear for their safety or wellbeing or that of someone else. 

It can include any of the following:

Examples include:

  • 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.
Relevant relationships

Under Queensland legislation, DFV is recognised across a number of different relationships including intimate personal, family and informal care relationships. These relationships are specifically referred to as “relevant relationships” under the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act (2012).

Further explanations of relevant relationships are outlined below:

  • Intimate personal relationships - can include spousal relationships, de facto partners, biological parents of a child, and same sex couples. It includes two people in, or previously in an established relationship, which does not have to be of a sexual nature. This may be boyfriends, girlfriends, partners, engaged or married couples, separated and divorced couples, inclusive of LGBTIQ+ couples.
  • Family relationships - exist between two persons if one of them is, or was a relative of the other, ordinarily understood to be related byhttps://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2012-005 blood or marriage, or culturally related.  This includes parents, siblings, children over 18 years of age, grandparents, cousins, aunts or uncles. This includes relatives by marriage, such as in-laws or stepparents. It also includes family or kinship relationships, in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
  • Informal care relationships exist when one person is or has been dependent on another person, a carer, for help in an activity of daily living and daily needs, such as dressing or personal grooming, preparing or assisting a person with eating meals, shopping for groceries, or coordinating medical appointments.  This can include a carer who is in receipt of a pension or allowance for providing the care. It doesn’t, however, include those relationships where a person is engaged under a commercial arrangement, such as a Blue Care nurse or support worker.

For more information about relevant relationships, please visit Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 - Benchbook (courts.qld.gov.au). The benchbook outlines that a prerequisite to making a domestic violence order is the existence of a relevant relationship between the parties.

LGBTIQ+ domestic violence

​As outlined above, LGBTIQ+ people are entitled to the same rights and protections afforded by the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012. These fundamental human rights support the safety, health and wellbeing of all Queenslanders where their protection is prioritised. 

The Queensland Police Service is committed to enhancing our knowledge of the issues surrounding domestic violence in LGBTIQ+ communities and is committed to ensuring best practice policing responses. For further information about our tailored services to respond and support the needs of LGBTIQ+ people, please visit LGBTIQ+ communities.

In January 2023, the Commissioner of Police Katarina Carroll issued an apology and statement of regret to LGBTIQ+ communities for historical mistreatment. See the apology and statement of regret. 

It is important to understand that although the QPS implemented legislation enacted by Queensland Government, historical matters have impacted upon LGBTIQ+ members engaging with and reporting matters to QPS, including DFV. The inclusion of this apology and statement of regret demonstrates QPS commitment to protecting all Queenslanders, including LGBTIQ+ people. 

What police will do when you make a domestic violence report

The Queensland Police Service recognises DFV is a serious and complex social problem within the community. If you call police to report a DFV incident that is happening now or has occurred, our first priority will be the safety of all parties involved. 

If we reasonably suspect domestic violence is occurring or has occurred before our arrival, it is lawful for police to enter a place, search the premises and make reasonable inquiries, without a search warrant, to investigate domestic violence. This is to ensure that all parties are safe from further harm and violence, and to give or arrange reasonable support to any person affected by DFV.

Police will conduct a holistic, victim-centric and trauma-informed investigation to:

  • Maximise the safety, protection and wellbeing of people who fear or experience DFV, and to minimise disruptions to their lives
  • Prevent or reduce DFV and the exposure of children to DFV 
  • Ensure people who commit DFV are held accountable for their actions and 
  • Ensure referrals for appropriate support are made available for victim survivors, perpetrators and any person affected by DFV.

Holistic investigations involve police speaking with all parties involved to determine what has occurred. We may request the name and address of any person, including witnesses, involved in the DFV incident, and this may involve speaking with children. A holistic policing investigation will be undertaken to identify the person most in need of protection and reduce the likelihood of furthering the imbalance of power and control within that relationship. 

To identify the person most in need of protection, the police officer will consider the behaviour of each person in the context of the relationship as a whole and will make inquiries about:

  • the relationship between the parties involved and
  • any history of domestic violence.
How will police protect a victim of domestic violence?

In Queensland, a person who commits domestic violence is called the respondent and a person who experiences domestic violence is called the aggrieved. The Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 is the legislation that governs domestic and family violence in Queensland. 

Section 100 of the Act states that:

  • If police reasonably suspect domestic violence is occurring, or has occurred, we must investigate.
  • If police reasonably believe domestic violence has occurred, we must take action to immediately protect the aggrieved, which may include issuing a police protection notice to the respondent. This requires the respondent to be of good behaviour and not commit domestic violence against the aggrieved, and may include other prohibitive conditions to protect the aggrieved, including preventing contact with the aggrieved or approaching within a certain distance of a premises for 24 hours.
  • If police believe the aggrieved is in immediate danger, police can take the respondent into custody for up to four hours. We must apply for a protection order during this time.
  • If, after four hours, we believe the aggrieved is still not safe, or if the respondent is too intoxicated to understand the meaning of the release conditions, we can continue to hold the respondent in custody.
  • If criminal offences are identified, police may commence proceedings against a respondent as well as applying for a protection order.​
What happens when police apply for a domestic violence order?

When police apply for a protection order, the application will be considered by a magistrate. The magistrate may make a temporary protection order to keep the aggrieved safe until the permanent protection order is determined.

The protection order will require the respondent to be of good behaviour and not commit domestic violence against the aggrieved. The respondent will not be allowed to possess any weapons or a weapons licence for the duration of the order. Other conditions may be imposed, depending on the circumstances. A protection order does not necessarily mean a family will be divided, or contact between the people involved will not be permitted.

The respondent will not receive a criminal record or be imprisoned when the protection order is made as this is a civil proceeding. If a respondent contravenes the conditions of a protection order, however, criminal proceedings may be commenced.

As of 25 November 2017, domestic violence orders issued in any Australian state or territory are automatically recognised and enforceable nationwide. It is not necessary to register a domestic violence order in another state or territory for it to be enforceable. Domestic violence orders issued before 25 November 2017 can become nationally recognised by applying to any court in Australia.

More information on the National Domestic Violence Order Scheme

​Help for victim survivors of domestic violence

The QPS can connect people experiencing DFV with specialist support and services. A referral can be made to an appropriate support agency to assist you.

More about police referrals

Learn how to recognise the signs of DFV and what you can do

Leaving a relationship can be difficult. You may feel you have no option but to stay, but services are available to support you. 

Accessing support and advice

In an emergency, call Triple Zero (000)

DVConnect Womensline
1800 811 811
24 hours, 7 days a week

DVConnect Mensline
1800 600 636
9am to midnight, 7 days a week

1800RESPECT
1800 737 732
24 hours, 7 days a week
Text message service available.

Kids Help Line
1800 55 1800
24 hours, 7 days a week

Lifeline
13 11 14
24 hour crisis counselling line

Elder Abuse Helpline
1300 651 192
9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday

Sexual Assault Helpline
1800 010 120
7.30am to 11.30pm, 7 days a week

Department of Justice and Attorney-General DFV
9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday

Magistrates Court
9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday

Emergency housing
24 hours, 7 days a week

Child safety service centres
1800 177 135
24 hours, 7 days a week

Legal Aid
1300 65 11 88
8.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday

Women’s Legal Service Queensland | Free legal assistance 
1800 957 957

Queensland Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service
1800 887 700

LGBTIQ+ support organisations

Refugee and Immigration Legal Service | Free legal assistance in immigration and refugee matters 

Immigrant Women's Support Service - Legal Aid Queensland 
3846 3490

Strategies
Queensland Courts information

The Queensland Courts website has further helpful information about domestic and family violence and related court processes.

Domestic violence portal

 

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Last updated: 16/05/2024