Updated 28 October 2026
Does domestic violence affect a property settlement in NSW?
Family violence can affect a property settlement when it has affected a person’s contributions or current and future circumstances. Since 10 June 2025, federal family law expressly addresses these effects. There is no automatic percentage increase: the outcome must be just and equitable in the circumstances of the particular relationship.
These principles apply to married couples and eligible de facto couples in NSW. Contested family property proceedings ordinarily go to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. Leaving an unsafe home does not, by itself, surrender your property entitlements.
The court examines assets and debts, financial and non-financial contributions, parenting and homemaking, and relevant circumstances such as health, earning capacity and children’s housing needs. An account or property being in one person’s name does not determine the entire settlement.
If you are in immediate danger, call 000. 1800RESPECT provides domestic, family and sexual violence support on 1800 737 732, available 24 hours a day.
The June 2025 reforms expressly require relevant family violence effects to be considered in property decisions. This includes effects on contributions and on present and future circumstances. The legislation also identifies economic or financial abuse as family violence. The same framework should inform negotiations and proposed consent orders outside court.
For example, abuse may have prevented paid employment, made parenting or household work harder, or left ongoing treatment costs and reduced earning capacity. The Attorney-General’s guidance explains that property orders do not award compensation for abuse or impose criminal punishment. Parenting arrangements and protection orders involve separate legal questions.
Older references to a ‘Kennon adjustment’ concern case law about violence making contributions more difficult. Advice now needs to address the amended legislation, rather than treating the older terminology as the complete test.
The property framework generally covers new proceedings from 10 June 2025 and unfinished earlier proceedings, except where the final hearing was already underway. It does not automatically reopen final settlements; transitional provisions require checking.
What counts as economic or financial abuse?
Economic or financial abuse can involve controlling someone’s access to money, undermining employment, forcing debts upon them or withholding necessary support. Physical assault is not essential. The question is whether the behaviour fits the statutory definition of family violence, and how its effects matter to the proposed property settlement.
The Family Law Act identifies conduct that can include:
- Forcibly controlling money, assets or superannuation.
- Sabotaging employment, earnings or employment opportunities.
- Forcing financial liabilities, or secretly accumulating debt in the other person’s name.
- Unreasonably withholding money needed for reasonable living expenses.
- Coercion or deception connected with dowry practices.
Ordinary disagreements about a budget are not automatically abuse. Explain the coercion, control or fear involved, and what it meant in practice: lost work, restricted independence, increased debt or greater difficulty making family contributions.
Can unreported family violence still be proved?
A person’s own evidence can establish family violence even without police reports, medical records or independent witnesses. Supporting material can help, but there is no universal requirement for corroboration. Courts assess disputed allegations and their effects on the evidence, so a clear account of what happened remains important.
Prepare a chronology with approximate dates where exact dates are unavailable. Describe specific conduct, its context and its consequences. Explain how it affected work, study, parenting, household responsibilities, access to funds or recovery after separation.
Useful supporting material may include messages, bank statements, loan documents, employment records, relevant health evidence and accounts from people who observed events. Keep records only where lawful and safe; ask your lawyer about obtaining documents you cannot access.
Before producing counselling or health files, obtain advice about relevance and the protected-confidences provisions. Courts can restrict disclosure of qualifying sensitive material under the statutory test. These protections are not a blanket exemption from providing relevant evidence.
What does a verified court case show about the evidence?
Keating & Keating shows that lack of independent corroboration does not automatically defeat family violence evidence. The 2019 appeal also illustrates why the court must examine how the alleged conduct affected contributions. It predates the June 2025 reforms and does not establish a standard percentage adjustment for current cases.
In Keating & Keating [2019] FamCAFC 46, the wife challenged property orders involving business interests, disputed debts and allegations of family violence. The majority criticised the apparent rejection of much of her violence evidence because it was uncorroborated.
The appeal succeeded on financial reasoning issues, and the property orders were set aside for rehearing before another judge. The majority expressly left the wife’s ultimate entitlement to a violence-related adjustment unresolved. It did not award her a particular percentage for abuse.
The practical lesson is to present both the conduct and its consequences clearly. The absence of a police complaint does not make a person’s account legally worthless, but disputed evidence still needs careful assessment.
How do NSW coercive control laws relate to property claims?
NSW’s coercive control offence commenced on 1 July 2024. It addresses specified patterns of abusive behaviour towards a current or former intimate partner, with the required intention and other statutory elements. A family property claim is separate: it does not depend on obtaining a coercive control conviction first.
The NSW Government’s guidance explains that the offence applies to conduct from commencement. Criminal proceedings and federal property proceedings have different purposes and proof requirements. Earlier conduct may still be relevant under family law; the criminal commencement date is not a general cutoff for property evidence.
An apprehended domestic violence order does not itself divide the parties’ assets or determine their final property entitlements.
You do not have to negotiate directly where doing so would be unsafe. Family violence allegations, risk or urgency can justify exemption from property pre-action procedures. A lawyer can assess suitable safeguards, explain an exemption in the required documents and consider whether urgent court orders are needed.
Where appropriate, negotiations can take place through lawyers or carefully screened property mediation. An agreement should be voluntary and informed. Do not sign simply because the other person threatens to withhold money or says there is no alternative.
Ask about interim maintenance if you cannot meet reasonable expenses and the other party has capacity to contribute. If assets may be sold or funds depleted, seek prompt advice about preservation orders. These remedies depend on the evidence and legal requirements.
Both parties remain responsible for full and frank financial disclosure, including relevant assets, liabilities, income, superannuation and interests through companies or trusts. Financial control can make obtaining information difficult; tell your lawyer what is missing.
What should I do before agreeing to a settlement?
Obtain independent legal advice before accepting a settlement, and identify safety, financial and deadline issues early. Property applications generally must be filed within twelve months after a divorce becomes effective or two years after a de facto relationship ends. Late applications require specific advice; permission is not automatic.
Married couples do not have to wait for divorce to address property. These filing deadlines should be checked against your circumstances.
Bring available financial documents, a list of assets and debts, existing orders and a short chronology to your first appointment. Identify immediate accommodation needs, essential expenses and any threatened transactions.
Have proposed consent orders or a financial agreement checked before signing. A binding financial agreement requires independent legal advice for each party and compliance with statutory requirements.
The Family Advocacy and Support Service offers legal and social support to people affected by family violence. For advice on your property position, contact Christine Manolakos and the CM Lawyers team or read about our property settlement services.
General information for separating couples in NSW. This article is not legal advice. Always have your circumstances and any proposed settlement checked by a lawyer.
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