Australian Capital Territory Current Acts

FAMILY VIOLENCE ACT 2016 - SECT 11

    (1)     In section 9:

"relative", of a person—

        (a)     means the person's—

              (i)     father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, stepfather, stepmother, father-in-law or mother-in-law; or

              (ii)     son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, stepson, stepdaughter, son-in-law or daughter-in-law; or

              (iii)     brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, stepbrother, stepsister, brother-in-law or sister-in-law; or

              (iv)     uncle, aunt, uncle-in-law or aunt-in-law; or

              (v)     nephew, niece or cousin; and

        (b)     if the person has or had a domestic partner (other than a spouse or civil union partner)—includes someone who would have been a relative mentioned in paragraph (a) if the person had been married to or in a civil union with the domestic partner; and

Note     For ACT law, a person acquires relatives through civil union in the same way as they acquire them through marriage (see Civil Unions Act 2012

, s 6 (2)).

        (c)     includes—

              (i)     someone who has been a relative mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of the person; and

              (ii)     if the person is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person, the following people:

    (A)     someone the person has responsibility for, or an interest in, in accordance with the traditions and customs of the person's Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community;

    (B)     someone who has responsibility for, or an interest in, the person in accordance with the traditions and customs of the person's Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community; and

              (iii)     someone regarded and treated by the person as a relative; and

              (iv)     someone with whom the person has a family-like relationship; and

              (v)     anyone else who could reasonably be considered to be, or have been, a relative of the person.

    (2)     For subsection (1) (c) (iv), factors that indicate whether there is a family-like relationship between 2 people include, but are not limited to, the following:

        (a)     the extent to which each is personally dependent on the other;

        (b)     the extent to which each is financially dependent on the other (including any arrangements for financial support);

        (c)     the length of the relationship;

        (d)     the frequency of contact between each other;

        (e)     the extent to which each is involved in, or knows about, the other's personal life;

        (f)     if the people live together or relate together in a home environment;

        (g)     if the relationship is regarded as being family-like by the community in which each live.

Example

a relationship between a person with disability and the person's carer that has developed into a relationship that is like that between family members

    (3)     In this section:

"Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person" means a person who—

        (a)     is a descendant of an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander person; and

        (b)     identifies as an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander person; and

        (c)     is accepted as an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander person by an Aboriginal community or Torres Strait Islander community.