Family Violence Provisions Australia: Your Visa Options
No one should have to choose between their safety and their visa. Australia's family violence provisions exist so that a person who has suffered family violence is not forced to stay in a dangerous relationship simply to keep an immigration pathway alive.
This is a sensitive area, and it is one I handle with care. This guide explains, in general terms, how the provisions work, who they protect, and how the protection was significantly widened from late 2024.
What the family violence provisions do
The core idea is straightforward. Some permanent visa pathways depend on a relationship continuing — most obviously the partner visa. Without a safety net, a person whose relationship broke down because of family violence could lose their visa pathway as a direct result of the violence done to them.
The family violence provisions in the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) close that gap. In defined circumstances, a person can still be granted the permanent visa even though the relationship has ended, where the relationship ended because of family violence committed by the sponsoring partner.
The provisions have long applied to partner visa applicants (for example, the subclass 820/801 and 309/100 pathways). They are not a separate visa — they are a set of rules that can carry an existing application through to grant despite the relationship ending.
In the partner visa context, the logic is this. To be granted the permanent stage, you normally have to show the relationship is continuing. The family violence provisions create an exception: where the relationship was genuine and continuing but ended because of family violence by your sponsoring partner, you can still be assessed for the permanent visa. You are not punished for leaving a violent relationship.
What counts as family violence
Family violence is not limited to physical assault. In this area it is understood broadly — conduct, whether actual or threatened, that causes a person to reasonably fear for, or to be reasonably apprehensive about, their own or a family member's wellbeing or safety.
That can include physical violence, but also emotional and psychological abuse, financial control, coercion, threats, and other controlling behaviour. Many people do not realise that what they have experienced falls within the definition. If you are unsure whether your situation qualifies, that is exactly the kind of thing worth checking rather than assuming it does not.
The 2024 expansion: a wider safety net
This is the most important recent development. From late 2024, the family violence provisions were materially expanded beyond the traditional partner-visa setting.
The protection now reaches secondary applicants across a range of permanent visa categories — not only partner visas, but a spread of skilled and family permanent visas. In practical terms, a secondary applicant (for example, a partner included in someone else's permanent visa application) who is affected by family violence need not simply be dropped from the application or forced to remain in the relationship.
Alongside this, the ability to split applications was introduced, so that a secondary applicant's situation can, in appropriate cases, be dealt with separately from the primary applicant's.
The detail of which categories are covered, and exactly how the provisions apply in each, is technical. The headline for anyone in this situation is simpler: the safety net is now much wider than "partner visas only", and it is worth checking whether it reaches your visa.
Why does this matter so much in practice? Before the expansion, a partner included as a secondary applicant on, say, a skilled permanent visa had little protection if that relationship turned violent — leaving could mean losing the visa entirely. The change recognises that family violence does not only happen to primary partner-visa applicants, and that the law should not force anyone, in any visa category, to stay in danger to keep their status. If you were added to someone else's application and your relationship has become unsafe, do not assume you have no options.
Proving family violence: the two routes
The provisions require the family violence to be established in one of two ways.
Judicially determined claims rest on certain court outcomes — for example, particular orders made against the sponsor, or a relevant conviction. Where one of these exists, it can be strong evidence for the purposes of the provisions.
Non-judicially determined claims are supported by prescribed evidence — statutory declarations in the required form together with supporting material from professionals such as medical practitioners, psychologists, social workers, or police. Where required, an independent expert may be asked to give an opinion on whether family violence has occurred.
Both routes have specific evidentiary rules, and the way the evidence is assembled and presented matters. This is not an area to approach alone if it can be avoided.
Building a non-judicial claim
Most people I assist rely on the non-judicially determined route, because they never obtained a court order — often because leaving safely was the priority, not litigation. That does not weaken the claim; it simply means the evidence has to be built.
In practice, that evidence commonly includes statutory declarations in the prescribed form from the applicant and from people with direct knowledge, together with material from professionals — a treating doctor, a psychologist or counsellor, a social worker, a family violence service, or police. Where the required threshold of evidence is met, the Department may accept the claim; in some cases it may refer the question to an independent expert whose assessment is then taken into account.
The key point is that contemporaneous, professional and consistent evidence carries weight. If you are experiencing family violence now, keeping a record and engaging support services not only helps your safety — it also, later, helps establish what happened.
Timing: do not wait until it is too late
Timing matters. The provisions generally operate while a relevant application is on foot, so what you do — and when — can affect whether they are available to you. Leaving a violent relationship should never be delayed for immigration reasons, but once you are safe, getting prompt advice about your application is important so that a pathway is not lost through inaction.
A common situation
Consider — in general terms, and without identifying anyone — a person who came to Australia on a partner visa, only for the relationship to become abusive. They face an impossible-seeming choice: stay in the relationship to keep the visa, or leave and lose the pathway to permanent residence.
The family violence provisions exist precisely to remove that false choice. Where the relationship was genuine and ended because of the sponsor's family violence, the person can leave, be safe, and still be assessed for the permanent visa. Since the 2024 expansion, a comparable logic can protect a secondary applicant included on another person's permanent visa. The details differ case to case, but the principle is constant: safety does not have to cost you your status.
You are not alone
If you are experiencing family violence, support is available regardless of your visa status. Services such as 1800RESPECT (the national family violence and sexual assault line) can help with safety and support, and in an emergency you should always call 000.
Immigration advice sits alongside that support, not ahead of it. The right order is safety first, then a clear-eyed look at your options — and, very often, those options are better than people fear.
Handling these cases with care
I approach family violence matters differently from other visa work. The priority is the person's safety and dignity, and the immigration strategy follows from that — not the other way around.
Practically, that means gathering evidence in a way that does not re-traumatise, working sensitively with treating professionals, and being realistic about what the provisions can and cannot do. Every case turns on its own facts, and I do not make promises about outcomes. What I can do is make sure the safety net is properly understood and, where it applies, properly used.
I am also conscious that people in this position are often exhausted and frightened, and that the immigration system can feel like one more thing stacked against them. Part of my role is simply to take that weight off — to explain, in plain terms, where you stand and what the realistic path looks like, so that the visa question stops being a source of fear and becomes something with a clear answer. Confidentiality is absolute, and nothing you tell me is shared without your instruction.
If this is your situation
If your relationship has ended, or is ending, because of family violence, please know two things. First, your immigration status may be more secure than you fear — the provisions exist precisely for this. Second, the recent expansion means they may apply even if you are not on a partner visa.
Get safe first. Then get advice about your visa. If it would help to talk it through confidentially, I am here to do that.
Questions and answers
What are the family violence provisions?
They are rules in the Migration Regulations that allow certain visa applicants to still be granted a permanent visa even though their relationship has ended, where it ended because of family violence committed by the sponsoring partner. They are not a separate visa — they are a safety net that can carry an existing application through to grant, so that a person is not forced to remain in a dangerous relationship to keep their pathway.
Do the family violence provisions only apply to partner visas?
No — not anymore. They have long applied to partner visa applicants, but from late 2024 they were materially expanded to reach secondary applicants across a range of permanent visa categories, including certain skilled and family visas. If you are a secondary applicant on someone else's permanent visa application, it is worth checking whether the provisions now apply to you.
How do I prove family violence for the provisions?
There are two routes. A judicially determined claim rests on certain court orders or a relevant conviction against the sponsor. A non-judicially determined claim is supported by prescribed evidence — statutory declarations in the required form plus supporting material from professionals such as doctors, psychologists, social workers or police, and, where required, an independent expert opinion. The evidentiary rules are specific, so how the material is prepared matters.
Can a secondary applicant be granted a visa after family violence?
Following the 2024 expansion, in appropriate cases yes. A secondary applicant affected by family violence need not simply be removed from the application, and it may be possible to deal with their situation separately from the primary applicant, including by splitting the application. Whether this is available depends on the visa category and the facts, so it should be assessed carefully.
Will using the family violence provisions affect my sponsor?
The provisions are about protecting the applicant's pathway, not about punishing anyone through the visa process. Any consequences for the other person flow from the legal system generally, not from your visa application. Your focus should be your safety and your own status. I handle these matters confidentially and sensitively.
What should I do first if I am experiencing family violence?
Get safe. If you are in immediate danger, contact 000. Support services are available regardless of your visa status. Once you are safe, seek advice about your immigration options — your position may be more secure than you fear, and acting on good information early is far better than staying in a dangerous situation out of worry about a visa.