The 29-year-old accused, who The Courier cannot name to protect the victim's identity, applied for bail at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Monday.

Police informant Senior Constable Breanna Whittaker said the accused was a regular drug user and lived with his father.

The accused and his father argued after the father said his son's girlfriend and children could not move into the house.

The court heard the accused allegedly punched his father to the side of his head three times and said 'I will get a knife and stab you'.

The accused allegedly had the victim in a headlock before grabbing him around the neck with two hands and squeezing.

Senior Constable Whittaker said the victim struggled to breathe, felt he was going to pass on and believed his son continued squeezing for one minute.

The court heard the victim attempted to flee but the accused overpowered him, allegedly continued to hold him around the neck and pushed him into a bedroom.

The victim broke free of the accused and ran out the front door to call triple zero.

"The victim said if he didn't overpower the accused he didn't know what could have happened," Senior Constable Whittaker said.

"He was very fearful for his safety.

"The victim says he is scared of the accused and says it is only a matter of time until the accused kills him.

"He indicated there has been a long history of unreported family violence and the accused's behaviour continues to deteriorate."

Senior Constable Whittaker said police held concerns for the victim's safety, particularly because the accused had shown no remorse.

She said when speaking to police in custody, the accused said he had not choked the victim as hard as he wanted to and referred to the victim as a 'piece of shit'.

Defence lawyer Kristen Morrow said the accused had not committed offences since 2014 and had no prior criminal history for family violence.

She said the accused had work available upon his release and could stay with his grandmother.

The case was adjourned until next week to allow the grandmother to give evidence to the court.

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.