Technology-facilitated coercive control (TFCC) is one of the fastest-growing and least understood forms of family and domestic violence in Australia. As physical and digital worlds become increasingly intertwined, abuse no longer requires proximity, bruises or visible threats to cause profound harm. It can happen through everyday tools — phones, workplace devices, shared accounts, cloud systems, messaging apps and social platforms.
The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) defines TFCC as a pattern of behaviours where perpetrators use digital technologies to monitor, intimidate, threaten or control someone (AIFS, 2023). Unlike one-off incidents of online harassment, TFCC is characterised by repetition, intention and impact. It is designed to dismantle a person’s autonomy, sense of safety and independence.
For workplaces, TFCC presents a growing safety and wellbeing challenge. Employees experiencing digital abuse often find that it follows them into work — through their inboxes, devices, calendars, communication platforms and online activity. Managers and leaders often do not recognise the signs, and traditional workplace policies aren’t designed to detect or respond to evolving forms of digital harm.
This blog is written as a practical help-guide for workplaces, drawing heavily from AIFS’ 2023 practice guide, combined with Capyble’s perspectives on digital safety, gendered violence and safe workplace systems.
Why TFCC Matters to Workplaces Today
Technology-facilitated coercive control is not a private issue that stays at home. AIFS highlights that digital abuse can “extend its reach into all parts of a victim-survivor’s life, including work, social relationships and day-to-day functioning.”
For many employees:
- Work devices are compromised by spyware or unauthorised access.
- Perpetrators use email, messaging apps or cloud accounts to monitor them.
- Abusive messages disrupt meetings, deadlines and productivity.
- Online surveillance influences when and how they can work.
- In hybrid or remote roles, perpetrators may listen to meetings or monitor activity.
- Digital impersonation damages professional reputation.
- Stealth access to calendars or work locations increases physical risk.
For workplaces, TFCC creates:
- Psychological safety risks
- WHS compliance obligations
- Cybersecurity vulnerabilities
- Confidentiality breaches
- Performance impacts
- Legal and reputational exposure
As AIFS notes, coercive control is fundamentally about power, dominance and fear. Technology amplifies this power in ways that workplaces must recognise.
What Technology-Facilitated Coercive Control Looks Like
Drawing from AIFS’ examples, TFCC can involve:
- Excessive or demanding messages during work hours
- Threatening or degrading communication through digital platforms
- Monitoring through spyware or stalkerware on devices
- Stealth access to emails, work systems or shared cloud accounts
- Surveillance through location-tracking apps or smart devices
- Impersonation via email or social media
- Controlling access to technology (locking someone out, resetting passwords)
- Covertly joining video meetings
- Monitoring work calendars or digital activity
- Harassing colleagues, clients or supervisors
- Coercing someone to share passwords
- Using workplace processes to intimidate or shame (e.g., false complaints)
These behaviours rarely occur in isolation. TFCC is defined by patterns — patterns that escalate, intensify and, when unnoticed, often continue for years.
The Gendered Nature of TFCC
AIFS emphasises that technology-facilitated abuse is highly gendered. Women are significantly more likely to be targeted, reflecting broader patterns of coercive control and domestic violence.
Reasons for this include:
- Gendered power imbalances
- Economic insecurity
- Caregiving responsibilities
- Social norms that position women as more “available”
- Higher rates of digital harassment directed at women
- Greater likelihood of receiving threats, monitoring or sexualised abuse
This is why TFCC is a central focus of this year’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. It aligns directly with Capyble’s core message: there is #noexcuse for online abuse.
Why TFCC Is Difficult to Detect at Work
The AIFS guide highlights several challenges:
TFCC is invisible by design.
Perpetrators use covert digital methods — spyware, shared accounts, silent monitoring — making it difficult for victim-survivors or workplaces to identify.
Victim-survivors may not recognise what’s happening.
People often attribute device issues to “glitches”, battery drain, or stress — not spyware or control.
Hybrid work obscures patterns.
Remote environments give perpetrators more opportunities to intrude unnoticed.
Shame and fear prevent disclosure.
Employees may fear consequences at work, judgement, or escalation at home.
Perpetrators exploit systems workplaces trust.
Emails, meeting links, calendars and logins are assumed to be safe. Offenders leverage this trust.
For managers, this means TFCC is often hiding in plain sight.
Workplace Red Flags: Signs an Employee May Be Experiencing TFCC
Based on AIFS’ practitioner insights, workplace warning signs can include:
- An employee appears highly anxious when checking messages
- Seemingly constant contact from a partner or ex, especially during work
- Sudden performance decline or concentration difficulties
- An unusual spike in missed meetings or disrupted tasks
- Frequent device “issues” or unexplained login activity
- Requests for new email addresses, phone extensions, or device resets
- Visible fear when a device notification appears
- Reluctance to turn on videos or use shared digital platforms
- Excessive secrecy around screens or devices
- Concerns about being monitored or “watched”
- Discomfort about returning home after work
- Mentioning “someone keeps accessing my accounts”
- Repeated need for extended leave or flexible timing
These signs do not confirm abuse. But they warrant a safe, supportive conversation.
Understanding the Psychology of TFCC
AIFS emphasises that TFCC is relationship-based, meaning it occurs in contexts where trust, intimacy or connection once existed. This creates profound psychological impacts:
Hypervigilance
Victim-survivors may constantly scan for threats, digital or otherwise.
Internalised blame
People often feel guilty for not stopping the behaviour, not recognising it earlier, or not “managing it better”.
Isolation
Digital abuse often cuts people off from support networks.
Loss of autonomy
Being monitored or controlled makes even minor daily decisions feel risky.
Erosion of confidence
Work performance suffers as anxiety grows.
Trauma symptoms
Sleep disruption, panic, intrusive thoughts, dissociation and fear responses become common.
Workplaces must understand that TFCC doesn’t simply create “stress”; it creates psychological injuries that carry into work.
What Employees Need From Their Workplace
AIFS stresses that the principles of safe practice include:
- Non-judgement
- Validation and belief
- Choice and autonomy
- Privacy and confidentiality
- Empathy over interrogation
- Practical support, not pressure
The workplace cannot “fix” the abuse — but it can play a stabilising, protective and empowering role.
A Practical Workplace Guide: How Managers and Organisations Can Respond
Below is a practical, workplace-centred response framework inspired by AIFS’ best-practice guidance and adapted for organisational environments.
Create a Supportive Environment
Employees will only disclose TFCC if they feel safe to do so. This requires:
- Clear and trauma-informed communication
- Discreet options for confidential conversations
- Ensuring the employee chooses the time, place and method of any discussion
- Avoiding assumptions about what they need
- Acknowledging their courage in speaking up
Phrases that help:
- “Thank you for sharing this with me.”
- “I believe you.”
- “You’re not overreacting.”
- “You’re not alone in this.”
- “You’re in control of what we do next.”
Phrases to avoid:
- “Why didn’t you just block them?”
- “Are you sure this isn’t a misunderstanding?”
- “You should go to the police.” (this removes autonomy)
Strengthen Digital Safety and System Protections
Digital safety is essential — and doable. Steps include:
Secure accounts
- Reset passwords
- Enable multi-factor authentication
- Review login history
- Revoke access to shared devices
- Check for forwarding rules in email accounts
- Review calendar sharing settings
Assess devices
- IT can support in checking for spyware or unusual activity
- Provide a temporary secure device if needed
- Reduce reliance on compromised personal devices
Protect communications
- Allow alternative email addresses or extensions
- Provide secure channels for communication
- Limit who can see calendars or meeting links
Ensure confidentiality at every step.
Offer Workplace Safety Planning
Safety planning should be led by the employee and tailored to their needs. It might include:
- Changing work hours or patterns
- Safe parking or building access
- Adjusting meeting formats (e.g., no video)
- Temporary relocation within the workplace
- Blocking known contacts in workplace platforms
- Updating client or colleague communication protocols
- Preparing a plan for escalation if harassment increases
Workplace safety planning shows the employee they are supported — without forcing actions they do not want.
Provide Flexible Leave and Work Options
AIFS notes that TFCC often creates urgent, unpredictable demands. Allowing:
- Family and domestic violence leave
- Short-notice flexibility
- Work-from-home adjustments
- Quiet working spaces
- Time for court, police, counselling or safety measures
…can be essential to stabilising the employee’s situation.
Managers must communicate these options without requiring proof, which can re-traumatise employees.
Strengthen Manager Capability
Managers do not need to be experts in domestic violence, but they must know how to respond safely.
Training should cover:
- Understanding coercive control
- Recognising digital abuse behaviours
- Responding without causing harm
- Managing privacy and confidentiality
- Avoiding victim-blaming
- How to escalate internally
- Working collaboratively with HR/IT/WHS
- Referring to specialist services
No manager should be unsupported in responding to TFCC disclosures. Organisational systems must hold this responsibility collectively.
Work With IT and Cybersecurity Teams
AIFS notes that perpetrators frequently exploit technical loopholes and weak security structures. IT teams play a crucial role in:
- Identifying compromised devices
- Strengthening system protections
- Securing digital identities
- Providing safe, temporary hardware
- Monitoring for suspicious activity
- Supporting employee safety planning
Cybersecurity and domestic violence teams should not be siloed — TFCC sits squarely at their intersection.
Respect the Employee’s Pace and Privacy
Employees experiencing TFCC may:
- Need time before acting
- Change their mind
- Feel overwhelmed
- Only want certain people informed
- Want no action taken yet
- Fear losing technological access
- Worry about escalation
Respecting these feelings is essential.
Consent is central.
Do not take steps without discussing them.
Do not inform colleagues without permission.
Do not contact the perpetrator under any circumstances.
Avoid Common Harmful Missteps
AIFS warns against these common mistakes:
- Blaming the victim
- Minimising the behaviour (“It’s just messages”)
- Telling the employee to “just block them”
- Using workplace systems to monitor the perpetrator
- Telling colleagues details without consent
- Sharing information with law enforcement without permission unless required for imminent risk
- Assuming leaving the relationship stops the abuse
- Treating digital abuse as an IT issue alone
These responses cause significant harm and reduce the chance the employee will seek help again.
Refer to Specialist Support
Workplaces cannot replace professional domestic violence services. They can connect employees with:
- 1800RESPECT
- WIRE
- DVConnect / Safe Steps
- Men’s Referral Service (for people seeking behavioural change)
- Local family violence services
- Legal services specialising in coercive control
- Cyber-safety organisations
- AIFS resources
- Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
Provide options — not prescriptions.
Creating a Workplace Culture That Prevents TFCC
Prevention begins long before a disclosure.
Workplaces should:
- Explicitly recognise tech-facilitated abuse in policies
- Implement respectful behaviour standards
- Address harmful gender norms
- Strengthen digital governance
- Provide anti-harassment training
- Create clear reporting pathways
- Foster cultures where privacy and autonomy are respected
- Promote safe technology use
- Communicate about domestic violence support in visible and stigma-free ways
A culture of compassion, confidentiality and respect protects employees more effectively than any single intervention.
Responding When the Perpetrator Is an Employee
AIFS acknowledges that perpetrators often work within the same organisations as victim-survivors. This scenario requires:
- Clear behavioural expectations
- Strong codes of conduct
- Transparent consequences
- Safe reporting pathways
- Independent investigation options
- Immediate action if workplace systems are misused
Perpetrator accountability is a workplace responsibility — not solely a legal one.
TFCC in Hybrid Work: New Risks Workplaces Must Understand
Remote and flexible work has expanded opportunities for digital intrusion. Common risks include:
- Perpetrators listening to meetings
- Monitoring remote activity
- Controlling or disrupting home-based workspaces
- Using shared Wi-Fi to track activity
- Blocking access to online platforms
- Interfering with work devices
- Manipulating or restricting calendars and logins
Workplaces must adapt by offering safe alternatives and ensuring remote workers are not left without support.
How Workplaces Can Lead During the 16 Days of Activism
The 16 Days of Activism is an ideal time to:
- Run TFCC awareness sessions
- Update digital safety protocols
- Strengthen FDV leave communications
- Provide guidance on safe device practices
- Share information about coercive control
- Promote 1800RESPECT and local support services
- Review and revise workplace policies
- Encourage leadership messaging on tech safety
With digital abuse rising sharply, TFCC must become a core part of organisational safety strategies.
Conclusion: Workplaces Have a Critical Role in Ending Technology-Facilitated Coercive Control
Technology-facilitated coercive control is complex, invisible and deeply harmful — but workplaces can make a profound difference. When organisations understand TFCC, respond safely and proactively protect employees’ digital environments, they become part of the solution to gendered violence, not a silent backdrop to it.
AIFS’s practice guide makes one message clear: safety is relational. Victim-survivors are safer when workplaces act with empathy, respect and competence; safer when systems are designed thoughtfully; safer when managers are trained; and safer when organisations understand that digital abuse is not a personal issue, but a workplace one.
Capyble’s message for this year’s 16 Days of Activism remains unwavering:
There is #noexcuse for online abuse.
There is #noexcuse for digital control.
And there is #noexcuse for unsafe workplaces.
