Mandatory and additional orders
All Apprehended Violence Orders (AVO)have mandatory orders, also known as 'standard orders' or 'Orders about behaviour'.
There are also other optional 'additional orders' that an applicant can ask for.
Mandatory orders/Orders about behaviour
There are three mandatory orders that are included in every Apprehended Violence Order (AVO). These are often referred to as standard orders or orders 1 a, b & c.
The mandatory orders are orders that are designed to protect you, but they don’t require the defendant to do anything that they wouldn't usually be expected to do.
The mandatory orders also protect a person who is in a domestic relationship with the protected person, including:
- people in their family, even if they don't live with them (including children)
- their current spouse or partner, or ex-spouses or ex-partners
- in the case of an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander, someone who is part of your extended family or kin according to the Indigenous kinship system of your culture.
From 3 December 2016, a domestic relationship also covers the relationship between someone's current partner and their former partner.
The mandatory orders don’t prohibit contact between you and the defendant. If an AVO is made for your protection with the mandatory orders only, you can still be in a relationship with or live with the defendant.
Orders made before 3 December 2016
Before 3 December 2016, the mandatory orders prohibited the defendant from:
a. Assaulting, molesting, harassing, threatening or otherwise interfering with the protected person or a person with whom the protected person has a domestic relationship,
b. Engaging in any other conduct that intimidates the protected person or a person with whom the protected person has a domestic relationship,
c. Stalking the protected person or a person with whom the protected person has a domestic relationship.
Orders made after 3 December 2016
After 3 December 2016, the mandatory orders are listed under a heading 'Orders about behaviour'. The orders state:
1. The defendant must not do any of the following to the protected person or anyone the protected person has a domestic relationship with:
a) assault or threaten them
b) stalk, harass or intimidate them, and
c) intentionally or recklessly destroy or damage any property that belongs to or is in the possession of them.
From 27 March 2021, ‘Orders about behaviour’ also include that the defendant must not harm an animal that belongs to or is in the possession of the protected person.
Additional orders
There are a number of additional orders that a court can include in an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO).
The Court will make additional orders if it decides that they are necessary in the circumstances to ensure the safety and protection of the protected person.
All of the additional orders can't be made in the same AVO, as some of the orders conflict with others. For example, the applicant could not have an order which stops you from making any contact except through your lawyer and an order which allows some contact between you and the protected person.
If you want any orders that are not mentioned above, you should tell the magistrate. The magistrate is able to make other specific orders that are required for your situation. If you are unsure what orders you need you should get legal advice.
Orders made before 3 December 2016
Before 3 December 2016, there were 10 additional orders that a court could make. They included:
| 2. | The defendant must not reside at the premises at which the protected person(s) may from time to time reside, or other specified premises. |
This means that the defendant can't live with you.
3. | The defendant must not enter the premises at which the protected person(s) may from time to time reside or work, or other specified premises. |
This means the defendant can't come to your home, your work or another address (if specified). If you don't want the defendant to know the address, you should not have to provide it. If you don't provide your address, the Court may not make this order. If you move, the AVO 'follows' you to your new address, and the defendant will be restricted from going there.
4. | The defendant must not go within ________ of the premises where the protected person may from time to time reside or work, or other specified premises. |
This means that the defendant must stay a certain distance away from your home, your work or another address (if specified). If you don't want the defendant to know the address, you should not have to provide it. If you don't provide your address, the Court may not make this order. You can nominate how far, for example 50 metres or 100 metres. If you move, the AVO 'follows' you to your new address, and the defendant will be restricted from going there.
5. | The defendant must not approach or contact the protected person(s) by any means whatsoever, except through the defendant's legal representative or as agreed in writing or permitted by an order or directions under the Family Law Act 1975, for the purpose of counselling, conciliation or mediation. |
This means that the defendant can't approach you or contact you by phone, text message, email, writing, through a third party, or in any other way, except through their lawyer. However, if there is a written agreement between you and the defendant, or if family law orders or directions have been made for counselling, conciliation or mediation, the defendant can contact you in the way that has been agreed by you or set out in those family law orders/directions.
6. | The defendant must not approach or contact the protected person(s) by any means whatsoever, except through the defendant's legal representative or as authorised by a parenting order under the Family Law Act 1975 unless the parenting order has been varied, suspended or discharged under s68R of the Family Law Act 1975. |
This means that the defendant can't approach you or contact you by phone, text message, email, writing, through a third party, or in any other way, except through their lawyer, or if a family law parenting order has been made.
7. | The defendant must not approach or contact the protected person(s) by any means whatsoever, except through the defendant's legal representative. |
This means that the defendant can't approach you or contact you by phone, text message, email, writing, through a third party, or in any other way, except through their lawyer.
8. | The defendant must surrender all firearms and related licences to Police. |
This means that the defendant must give the police any guns and/or gun licences they have.
9. | The defendant must not approach the school or other premises at which the protected person(s) may from time to time attend for the purposes of education or child care or other specified premises. |
This means that the defendant can't go near the school or childcare centre where you may go.
10. | The defendant must not approach the protected person(s) or any such premises or place at which the protected person(s) from time to time reside or work within 12 hours of consuming intoxicating liquor or illicit drugs. |
This means that the defendant can't approach you or go where you are or where you live or work if they have had drugs or alcohol in the last 12 hours.
11. | The defendant must not destroy or deliberately damage or interfere with the property of the protected person's. |
This means that the defendant can't do anything to your property.
Orders made after 3 December 2016
After 3 December 2016, additional orders are listed under the headings:
- Orders about contact
- Orders about family law and parenting
- Orders about where you cannot go
- Orders about weapons.
Orders about contact
| 2. | You must not approach the protected person or contact them in any way, unless the contact is through a lawyer. |
This means that the defendant can't approach you or contact you by phone, text message, email, writing, through a third party, or in any other way, except through their lawyer.
3.
| You must not approach: a) the school or any other place the protected person might go to for study, b) any place they might go to for childcare, or c) any other place listed here. |
This means that the defendant cannot go near the school or childcare centre where you may go or any other place that is listed in the order.
| 4. | You must not approach or be in the company of the protected person for at least 12 hours after drinking alcohol or taking illicit drugs. |
This means that the defendant cannot be with you if they have had drugs or alcohol in the last 12 hours.
5. | You must not try to find the protected person except as ordered by the Court. |
This means that the defendant cannot try and find you by any method including online, by phone or asking anyone.
Orders about family law and parenting
6.
| You must not approach the protected person or contact them in any way, unless the contact is: a) through a lawyer, or b) to attend accredited or court-approved counselling, mediation and/or conciliation, or c) as ordered by this or another court about contact with child/ren, or d) as agreed in writing between you and the parent(s) about contact with child/ren, or e) as agreed in writing between you and the parents(s) and the person with parental responsibility for the child/ren about contact with the child/ren.
|
This means that the defendant can't approach you or contact you by phone, text message, email, writing, through a third party, or in any other way, except through their lawyer, or to go to court approved counselling or mediation or conciliation or as ordered by a court or as agreed with the other parent. Order 6(e) is an alternative to order 6(d) where there is a written agreement with another person who has parental responsibility for the children, such as a grandparent.
Orders about where you cannot go 7. | You must not live at: a) the same address as the protected person, or b) any place listed here.
|
This means that the defendant cannot live with you or live at a place that is written in the order. A court can make this order regardless of whether the defendant owns the home or is named on the lease.
8.
| You must not go into: a) any place where the protected person lives, or b) any place where they work, or c) any place listed here.
|
This means that the defendant cannot come to your home, your work or another address (if specified). If you do not want the defendant to know the address, you should not provide it. If you do not provide your address, the Court may not make this order. If you move, the AVO 'follows' you to your new address, and the defendant will be restricted from going there.
9. | You must not go within ________ metres of: a) any place where the protected person lives, or b) any place where they work, or c) any place listed here.
|
This means that the defendant must stay a certain distance away from your home, your work or another address (if specified). If you do not want the defendant to know the address, you should not provide it. If you do not provide your address, the Court may not make this order. You can nominate how far, for example 50 metres or 100 metres. If you move, the AVO 'follows' you to your new address, and the defendant will be restricted from going there.
Orders about weapons 10.
| You must not possess any firearms or prohibited weapons. |
This means that the defendant must not have any firearms or prohibited weapons. Even if this order is not made, the defendant can't have a firearms licence or keep any firearms when an AVO is made against them. For more information, see Consequences of an Apprehended Violence Order.