Stalking Charges in Victoria

Written by Justin Chua, Principal Solicitor, Chua Tan Associates. Last reviewed 17 October 2026. General information about Victorian law, not legal advice.

Stalking charges often arise from a relationship breakdown, a workplace or neighbour dispute, or online contact that has escalated. They are frequently charged alongside intervention order breaches. The key questions are usually whether there was a course of conduct, and what you intended or should have understood.

The law

Under s 21A of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), the prosecution must prove that you engaged in a course of conduct that included one or more listed acts. These include following someone, contacting them by any means, publishing material about them online, tracing their internet use, loitering near their home or work, making threats, using abusive words, keeping them under surveillance, or acting in any other way that could reasonably be expected to cause harm or fear. A course of conduct generally means conduct on more than one occasion, or conduct that is protracted, that shows a continuity of purpose.

The prosecution must also prove a fault element. Broadly, that is either that you intended to cause physical or mental harm (including self-harm) or to arouse fear for the person’s safety or someone else’s; that you knew your conduct was likely to have that effect; or that you ought to have understood it was likely to have that effect and it actually did.

Changes made in 2026

The Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Stalking and Other Matters) Act 2026 received royal assent on 10 February 2026, and its changes to the stalking offence came into force on 26 April 2026. It restructures s 21A to clarify the course of conduct element and set out the different fault levels (intentional, reckless and objective), and covers harming or threatening to harm an animal as part of stalking conduct. It also extends rules that stop an accused person personally cross-examining certain protected witnesses to stalking cases, and expressly includes stalking in the definition of family violence. Which version of the offence applies depends on when the conduct occurred, so this is something we check at the start of every case.

Maximum penalties

• Stalking (s 21A): 10 years’ imprisonment.
• Stalking heard in the Magistrates’ Court: up to 2 years for one offence.
• Contravening a family violence or personal safety intervention order: up to 2 years, and up to 5 years for the more serious family violence contravention offences.

What happens, step by step

1. Complaint and investigation. Police usually collect screenshots, call logs, social media records and sometimes device or location data. Get advice before any interview. See Police Interviews: Your Rights.
2. Intervention order. Police or the person may apply for an intervention order at the same time. That is a civil application, but breaching an order is a crime. See Intervention Orders.
3. Charge and bail. Bail conditions almost always ban contact, including online and through other people.
4. First mention in the Magistrates’ Court. Most stalking cases stay there.
5. Brief of evidence. We check whether messages are complete, in context and actually sent by you.
6. Negotiation, contest or plea. Charges can sometimes be resolved on a narrower set of facts, or as a lesser offence.

Penalties and realistic outcomes

The Sentencing Advisory Council’s report Sentencing Stalking in Victoria (March 2022), covering 2011 to 2020, found that about 95% of stalking cases were sentenced in the Magistrates’ Court. Imprisonment was imposed for 32% of stalking charges in the Magistrates’ Court and 82% in the higher courts. In 68% of Magistrates’ Court cases in the five years to 2020 the stalking was flagged as family violence, and 39% of Magistrates’ Court cases also involved breaching a family violence intervention order or safety notice. These figures predate the 2026 amendments.

Courts look at how long the conduct went on, its effect on the person, whether it breached a court order, any threats or tracking, your mental health and remorse, and whether you have stopped. Community correction orders with treatment conditions are common for lower-level conduct.

Other consequences

• Intervention orders. A court may make a family violence or personal safety intervention order for a set period, with conditions on contact, locations and electronic tracking.
• Visas. For non-citizens, a conviction can affect your visa under the character test in Migration Act 1958 (Cth) s 501, and a prison sentence of 12 months or more leads to mandatory cancellation while it is being served full-time.
• Employment. A stalking conviction appears on police checks and can affect jobs involving vulnerable people.

How we examine a case like this

• Whether the acts form a course of conduct, or were isolated contacts.
• What you intended, and what a person in your position ought to have understood.
• Whether messages have been selected without the other side of the conversation.
• Whether an account or device can actually be linked to you.
• Statutory defences. Before the 2026 amendments, s 21A(4A) provided a defence for conduct engaged in without malice in the normal course of a lawful business or profession (including journalism), for an industrial dispute, or in political activity or discussion; we check how the version that applies to your case deals with such conduct.

Frequently asked questions

Can repeated messages be stalking?

Yes, if they form a course of conduct and the prosecution can prove the required intention or that you ought to have understood they would cause harm or fear, and they did.

Is online stalking treated differently?

No. Contacting someone electronically, publishing material about them online and tracing their internet use are all covered by s 21A. The offence can also apply where the conduct happened in Victoria but the person was elsewhere, or the reverse.

Will I go to prison for stalking?

Not necessarily. Most cases are dealt with in the Magistrates’ Court, where community-based orders are common. Imprisonment is more likely where there were threats, a breach of an intervention order or a long pattern of conduct.

What is the difference between stalking and breaching an intervention order?

Breaching an order is doing something the order prohibits. Stalking is a separate offence about a course of conduct and intention, and it does not require an order to exist. They are often charged together.

Penalties and procedures on this page reflect Victorian and Commonwealth law as at the review date shown above. Maximum penalties are rarely imposed; the sentence in any case depends on its own facts.