Trigger warning: The following article contains references of domestic violence, family trauma and emotional distress. If you’re struggling, please know help is available to you, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Vanessa Amorosi has opened up about a private and painful secret: the domestic abuse she and her mother survived, which worsened their high-profile court battle.
The 44-year-old pop singer opened up on 60 Minutes on Sunday night about the bitter dispute with her mother, Joyleen Robinson, that centred around the ownership of a Victorian property she had bought in 2001.
What made the battle particularly painful, Amorosi said, was the shadow of past abuse. She said both she and her mother had survived domestic violence inflicted by her late father, Frank.
Discussing it publicly felt almost impossible. “It’s a terrible Pandora’s box,” she told 60 Minutes’ Tracy Grimshaw. “I think because of my experience growing up in a household like that, I really felt like I wanted to protect my mum. I don’t like talking about it … he’s passed away. [But] Maybe that helps people have a little bit of insight to the bond that was made between my family.”
Amorosi said the aftershocks of the abuse lingered for years, despite her mother leaving her father when she was young, shaping how she viewed the world and her relationships.
“The weirdness that happens behind closed doors… wanting to keep people out, like, creating this barrier that everybody is the enemy, you know?” she explained.
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Her early success only intensified that isolation. “I’ve been raised where, especially when I became successful, to not trust anybody. You know, everybody’s out to get you, your friends, your boyfriend, anybody. All of them out to get you. They don’t want you, they want what you have. So it, you become very isolated and you cling to the people [within] that barrier.”
Amorosi, known for smash hits like “Absolutely Everybody” and “Shine”, initially launched a lawsuit against her mother in the Supreme Court of Victoria in order to seize control of the Victorian property. Robinson, however, argued that in 2001, they came to an agreement for Amorosi to have full ownership in exchange for a future payment of $650,000.
The feud reached the Supreme Court in August 2024, where the judge ruled in favour of Amorosi, granting her sole ownership, forcing her mother to vacate. Amorosi was also required to pay almost $870,000 in restitution.
She said she took on the 60 Minutes interview as she wished to confront the public scrutiny surrounding the court case.
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“People wanna know about it. Why would you do this to your family? Why would you do this to your mum? Like, trust me, I don’t wanna do that – that’s not a good time,” she said.
She described feeling forced into a corner, left with the choice to take her mother to court or risk “debt and no assets”.
“I think she banked on, (that) I would never have the guts or the courage to have this go public, and so I would just walk away. I honestly believe that,” she said. “I think at numerous points, I was very, very close to it. And it took a lot of buckling down to go, no, I’m not walking away. ‘Cause if I walk away, I walk away with a debt and no assets to pay the debt. That’s where I was left.”
With the legal battle now behind her, Amorosi has turned her focus back to music, with an upcoming Australian tour marking 25-years since her debut album.
The ‘Celebrating 25 Years’ tour will start in Newcastle on April 10th, 2026, then Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne, Torquay, Sunshine Coast, before wrapping up in Brisbane on May 1st.
Each night on the tour will be unique, with Amorosi taking fans on a nostalgic journey, recounting stories and moments from her treasure trove of memories that have defined her career.