Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Family Violence Protection Act 2008 - SECT 8

Meaning of family member

8. Meaning of family member



(1) For the purposes of this Act, a family member, in relation to a person (a
relevant person), means-

   (a)  a person who is, or has been, the relevant person's spouse or domestic
        partner; or

   (b)  a person who has, or has had, an intimate personal relationship with
        the relevant person; or

   (c)  a person who is, or has been, a relative of the relevant person; or

   (d)  a child who normally or regularly resides with the relevant person or
        has previously resided with the relevant person on a normal or regular
        basis; or

   (e)  a child of a person who has, or has had, an intimate personal
        relationship with the relevant person.

(2) For the purposes of subsections (1)(b) and (1)(e), a relationship may be
an intimate personal relationship whether or not it is sexual in nature.

(3) For the purposes of this Act, a family member of a person (the relevant
person) also includes any other person whom the relevant person regards or
regarded as being like a family member if it is or was reasonable to regard
the other person as being like a family member having regard to the
circumstances of the relationship, including the following-

   (a)  the nature of the social and emotional ties between the relevant
        person and the other person;

   (b)  whether the relevant person and the other person live together or
        relate together in a home environment;

   (c)  the reputation of the relationship as being like family in the
        relevant person's and the other person's community;

   (d)  the cultural recognition of the relationship as being like family in
        the relevant person's or other person's community;

   (e)  the duration of the relationship between the relevant person and the
        other person and the frequency of contact;

   (f)  any financial dependence or interdependence between the relevant
        person or other person;

   (g)  any other form of dependence or interdependence between the relevant
        person and the other person;

   (h)  the provision of any responsibility or care, whether paid or unpaid,
        between the relevant person and the other person;

        (i)    the provision of sustenance or support between the relevant
               person and the other person.

Example A relationship between a person with a disability and the person's
carer may over time have come to approximate the type of relationship that
would exist between family members.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), in deciding whether a person is a
family member of a relevant person the relationship between the persons must
be considered in its entirety.