Cyberstalking and domestic violence

Cyberstalking

Cyberstalking is the use of technology to stalk or repeatedly harass someone. It can include:

• monitoring your online activity, including accessing your emails and social media accounts
• monitoring your movements using GPS technologies
• physically tracking you, following or watching you  
• making unwanted contact by calling, emailing, texting, messaging, or sending offensive material
• impersonating your online identity to harm your reputation or relationships
• sharing, or threatening to share, photos, videos, personal information, or anything that is humiliating or embarrassing to you.

Cyberstalking is a form of domestic violence and a crime. It can become dangerous and can develop into physical abuse.

There may be some signs that your current or former partner is monitoring you online, for example:

• they always seem to know where you are and what you are doing, and they show up unexpectedly 
• they know information from your private conversations, messages, or emails
• they contact your friends or family to check up on you or tell damaging stories about you
• your passwords stopped working suddenly
• a fake social media account has been created in your name.

For more information, see Cyberstalking on the eSafety Commissioner website.

Protecting yourself from cyberstalking

There are some preventative steps you can take to protect yourself from cyberstalking:

• create new, strong passwords that include upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols
• create a different password for each account
• don’t allow browsers to save your username, passwords, or other personal information, such as your credit card details
• log out of your accounts as soon as you are finished using them, instead of just closing the window or app
• check the privacy settings on your accounts – you should do this regularly as updates can change your privacy settings
• mute, unfollow or block the person, or anyone you don’t know
• create new online accounts on a safer device
• get new devices
• turn off location sharing in your apps, avoid posting photos or posts that give away your location or other personal information.

To check the strength of your passwords, you can use a password strength tester.

For more information, see Passwords on the ID Support NSW website.

If you believe someone may have accessed your online accounts, you can use the Tip sheet – password checklist to update your passwords and secure your online accounts.

For more information about multi-factor authentication, see Turn on multi-factor authentication on the Australian Cybersecurity Centre Website.

If you believe someone is stalking you online, you should:

• mute, unfollow or block the person, or anyone you don’t know
• create new online accounts with usernames that are completely different to your old usernames and different from one another
• report abusive or threatening content to the app, online service, or platform
• speak to a counsellor or support service
• make a report to the eSafety Commissioner
• contact the police.

For more information, see:

• Online accounts and app safety and Device safety on the 1800RESPECT website
• Digital wellbeing and Using devices and connecting safely on the eSafety Commissioner website.

Making a police report

There are a number of ways you can report cyberstalking and domestic violence to the police.

In an emergency, you should call 000.

You can also visit your nearest police station. To find your nearest police station, see Police Station Search on the NSW Police Force website.

If you need extra support, you could ask to speak to the:

• Domestic Violence Liaison Officer
• Aboriginal Community Liaison Officer
• Multicultural Community Liaison Officer
• Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officer
• Youth Liaison Officer.

You can also make an online report through Report To Crime Stoppers on the NSW Police Force website.

Keeping evidence

If it is safe, you should keep a copy of any call records, messages, or emails to give to the police.

You should also keep:

• usernames or profiles
• screenshots of the posts, comments, images or videos
• the details of the stalking incidents, including date, time and what happened
• the webpage addresses (URLs) or social media service used
• instructions for finding the abusive material, if necessary
• details about how long and often the stalking has taken place.

Contacting Legal Aid NSW safely

You can contact Legal Aid NSW safely to get help with cyberstalking by:

• calling us using a safe phone
• speaking to us via webchat, using a safe device
• seeing us in person at one of our local offices or court.

Call us

You can us on 1800 979 529 to speak to someone from our Domestic Violence Unit (DVU). The DVU is a statewide specialist team of lawyers, domestic violence case workers, mental health workers and financial counsellors who work together to help clients who have experienced domestic and family violence with their legal and other needs.

If you believe your current or former partner is monitoring your phone calls, you should use a public phone, or a friend or family member's phone to call. If your partner becomes aware that you are seeking help, their behaviour may get worse.

If you can’t call us without your current or former partner knowing, you should come see us in person at one of our local offices or court.

Webchat

You can speak to one of our information officers online via web chat between 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays).

Where possible, you should ask a family member or friend if you can use one of their devices – a device your current or former partner cannot access.

If you can’t use a safe device, you should use incognito mode, so your browsing history isn’t saved.

If you are using a regular browser to visit this page, you should switch to incognito mode and delete your browsing history.

If you need to leave this site quickly, click the Quick exit button in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen.

If you can’t chat to us online without your current or former partner knowing, you should come see us in person at one of our local offices or court.

See us in person

You can visit one of our offices and make an appointment to speak with a lawyer about cyberstalking and domestic violence.

You can also speak to one of our lawyers at your local courthouse. Our lawyers provide services at free advice clinics at the following local courts:

• Bankstown
• Burwood
• Fairfield
• Liverpool
• Toronto (monthly)
• Wyong.

You can find the address of your nearest local court on the Court locations, listing and sitting arrangements page of the Local Court of NSW website.

Our lawyers also provide free services at the family law courts in:

• Albury
• Armidale
• Broken Hill
• Coffs Harbour
• Newcastle
• Parramatta
• Sydney
• Wollongong.

Our lawyers are available in person Monday to Friday at the following family law courts:

• Newcastle
• Parramatta
• Sydney
• Wollongong.

You can find the address for your family law court on the NSW Court locations page on the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia website.

Support services

There are many support services you can contact if you are experiencing cyberstalking and domestic violence, including:

• 1800RESPECT, a confidential information, counselling and support service that provides support to people impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence or abuse
• NSW Domestic Violence Line on 1800 65 64 63.

For more information, see Domestic violence support services.