Can I Sue for Domestic Violence in Australia?

If you’ve experienced family or domestic violence, you may later consider if you have any legal options to address what happened. You may have been in survival mode and wondered months or ever years after if there was a way to hold the person responsible for what happened, or seek compensation for abuse or injuries.

You can sue a domestic violence perpetrator in Australia, by bringing a civil claim for the harm they caused you, and you can do it even if they were never charged or convicted of anything. A criminal court needs proof beyond reasonable doubt. A civil court decides on the balance of probabilities, a lower bar, which is why a claim can succeed even where a prosecution never happened.

The harder question is not whether you can sue. It is whether it is worth it. That is what the rest of this page is about.

Do you need them to have been convicted first?

No. A criminal case and a civil case are two different roads. One can fail while the other succeeds, because they are decided to different standards.

In Gardiner v Doerr [2022] QSC 188, a Queensland court found on the balance of probabilities that a former partner had committed battery, and ordered him to pay $967,113.40 in compensation. It is an interstate decision, but it makes the point that no criminal conviction was needed for that civil result.

So even if the police never charged your ex, or a jury acquitted them, that is not the end of the road. Civil matters are a different road. And if what you need first is protection rather than compensation, that is a separate track again, and our AVO lawyers page covers protection orders and the criminal consequences of domestic violence.

So can you sue, and is it worth it?

Here is where a lot of people get caught out. Being able to sue and it being worth suing are two different things. After years of doing this, here is the honest filter I use.

You can likely sue if:

1. You suffered a real injury: a physical injury, or a diagnosed psychiatric condition.
2. You can evidence what happened: medical records, police records, an AVO history, messages.
3. And, the part that decides most cases, the person has assets or income a judgment could actually reach.

It may not be worth suing if:

1. The person has no assets and no income, because even if you succeed on paper they don’t have the resources to compensate you.
2. Even though the matter was highly distressing it was never diagnosed as a psychiatric injury.
3. There is no supporting evidence that would stand up in court.
4. The time limit to bring the claim has already closed.

If that last group sounds like you, do not stop reading. There is another path further down that does not depend on your ex having money.

A civil claim also costs money to run, and you usually recover only part of your legal costs even if you win. That is one more reason the money at the other end matters. There is little point spending to chase someone with nothing.

What can you actually claim?

If a claim is worth running, here is what the compensation is meant to cover:

• Pain and suffering for the injury itself.
• Past and future medical and treatment costs.
• Lost income, past and future, where the harm stopped you working.
• Aggravated or exemplary damages, where the conduct was deliberate.

Because assault and battery are intentional wrongs, these claims sit outside the injury caps that limit ordinary negligence payouts. The Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) does not apply those caps to a civil claim for an intentional act done with intent to cause injury (s 3B). That is a big part of why an award like the one in Gardiner v Doerr can run into the hundreds of thousands.

Can you sue your ex for emotional distress or psychological abuse?

This is the question I get most, and the law here is often reported wrongly online. Much of what abuse actually looks like never leaves a visible mark.

What we are seeing on the ground is that it’s normally a quieter, constant underlying threat that is in the household. It could be constant monitoring, constant criticism. It could be control over money. It could be control over your friendship groups.

Here is the honest position. In Australia there is no standalone right to sue simply for being caused emotional distress. The pathway runs through an old principle known as Wilkinson v Downton, and the leading Australian case, Giller v Procopets [2008] VSCA 236, confirms what you generally need to recover: a recognised psychiatric injury, a diagnosed condition, rather than feeling hurt, fearful, or being badly shaken.

So the practical test is not how upsetting it was. It is whether a psychologist or psychiatrist can diagnose the harm. If they can, you may have a claim. If the damage is real but undiagnosed, a court will usually not compensate for distress on its own. I would rather tell you that plainly now than have you find out after paying for it.

What if they have no money? The Victims Support Scheme

If your ex has nothing to pay a judgment, a court win is worth little. This is the most common dead end, and it is exactly why the next option matters.

In NSW you can apply to the Victims Support Scheme, run under the Victims Rights and Support Act 2013 (NSW). It provides financial support for things like counselling and immediate expenses, plus a recognition payment, currently between $1,500 and $15,000 depending on the category of act. It pays far less than a court could award. But it does not depend on your ex having a cent, because the support comes from the scheme, not from them.

One correction, because it is repeated everywhere online: the much larger figure you may have read about belongs to an older scheme, not the one running now.

How long do you have to sue?

Time is the quiet deadline most people miss. Under the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW), a personal injury claim generally has to be brought within 3 years of when your injury became discoverable, with a longer 12-year backstop. Leave it too long and the right to sue can simply close, no matter how strong the facts are.

Two important exceptions:

• For child abuse there is no limitation period at all (s 6A). It does not matter how many years have passed.
• The Victims Support Scheme runs on its own clock. For a domestic violence recognition payment you generally have 10 years to apply.

If you are anywhere near a deadline, get advice before it decides the question for you.

Where that leaves you

So, can you sue for domestic violence in Australia? Yes. Whether you should comes down to the injury you can prove, the evidence you have, and whether there is money at the other end. If there is not, the Victims Support Scheme is often the smarter path. And if what happened is also affecting a property settlement or your separation, those are connected questions worth sorting together.

You do not have to work out which path is yours on your own. Book a free discovery call and me and my team will tell you honestly whether a claim is worth running, or whether another route protects you better. Call 1300 614 732 or send us a message.