Guide

What an AVO is, and what it is not

If documents have just been handed to you, this guide explains what the order is, who asked for it, and what it does and does not mean about you.

General information, not legal advice. This page sets out how the law generally applies. It does not take account of your circumstances, and you should get advice about your own situation before acting on it. The official sources this page is written from are listed on it; where they differ from anything here, they are the authority.

In short

An apprehended violence order is a civil order made by a court to protect a person. It is not a criminal conviction and it does not, by itself, give you a criminal record.

Contravening an order is different. Section 14 of the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW) makes it a criminal offence to knowingly contravene a prohibition or restriction in an order.

There are two kinds. An ADVO is made where the parties are in a domestic relationship as the Act defines it. An APVO is made where they are not.

The two kinds of order

Both kinds are apprehended violence orders, and both are made under the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW). What separates them is the relationship between the people involved.

An apprehended domestic violence order, usually called an ADVO, is made where the person seeking protection and the defendant are in a domestic relationship as that Act defines it. The definition is broader than marriage. It reaches partners and former partners, people who live or have lived in the same household, relatives, and certain care relationships.

An apprehended personal violence order, an APVO, is made where there is no domestic relationship. The Local Court gives neighbours and co-workers as the ordinary examples.

Which kind of order is sought is not a detail. It affects how the application is made, how it is dealt with and how the order operates afterwards. The Local Court notes that an ADVO operates nationally, so a defendant must comply with it across Australia, while an APVO can be registered in another State or Territory if the protected person moves there.

If you are not sure which kind of order has been applied for, it will be on the first page of the application. Bring the document rather than a description of it.

Civil order, criminal offence: the distinction that matters most

This is the part that causes the most confusion, and it is worth being precise about.

An apprehended violence order is civil. The court is not deciding whether you committed a crime and it is not sentencing you. It is deciding whether a person should be protected by an order, and if so on what terms. Because it is a civil matter, the standard of proof is the balance of probabilities rather than beyond reasonable doubt. An order being made is not a finding that you are guilty of an offence, and the order itself is not a criminal conviction.

Contravening an order is criminal. Section 14 of the Act makes it an offence to knowingly contravene a prohibition or restriction in an order. That is a charge in the criminal jurisdiction, and a conviction for it is a criminal conviction with all the consequences one carries.

So both of these are true at once: the order on its own does not give you a criminal record, and breaking it can. That is why the conditions are worth reading carefully even where you disagree with everything that is alleged.

An order can also be made where a related criminal charge has not succeeded, because the two are decided on different standards of proof. See related criminal charges.

How an application starts

There are two routes, and which one applies to you changes what can happen next.

Police. The Local Court’s material says that a person who feels they need protection should speak to police, who can apply on their behalf, and that police must apply where the person needing protection is under sixteen. Where police attend an incident and consider protection is needed immediately, a senior police officer can make a provisional order, and the matter then goes to the Local Court.

A private application. If police decide not to apply, a person can still make their own application through the Local Court. This is the ordinary route for many APVO matters, including disputes between neighbours.

The difference matters afterwards. Where police applied, the application belongs to police. A protected person who changes their mind cannot simply withdraw it, and police may continue with it. Where a private applicant applied, they have more control over the application, but the court still decides whether an order is made.

Orders that exist before anything is decided

Many people are already under an order before their first court date.

A provisional order is made by a senior police officer, usually urgently and often at the scene. An interim order is made by the court while the application is on foot, including where the matter is adjourned. The Local Court’s own material says that where a defendant disagrees with an application, the court will consider whether to make an interim order during the adjournment, and that the defendant must obey it until the court decides the case.

Both are real orders. Both carry conditions. Both attract section 14 if they are contravened. Being temporary makes no difference to any of that.

Conditions apply from the moment you are served or told about the order by police — not from your court date, and not from when you accept that they are fair. See interim and provisional orders.

What an order actually requires

Every apprehended violence order carries the same three prohibitions, whatever else it says. Section 36 of the Act provides that every order is taken to specify that the defendant must not assault or threaten, must not stalk, harass or intimidate, and must not intentionally or recklessly destroy or damage property or harm an animal belonging to or in the possession of the protected person.

Those prohibitions also protect a person with whom the protected person has a domestic relationship. In a family that usually includes children and other members of the household, even where they are not separately named.

On top of those, a court can include additional conditions. They are chosen for the particular matter, and they are the ones that change daily life: conditions about contacting the protected person, about approaching or entering a place where they live or work, about being near a school, or about approaching them after drinking alcohol or taking drugs.

Read every additional condition on your own order. Two orders made on the same morning in the same courtroom can require completely different things. Our guide to the conditions on your order goes through them.

What an order can affect beyond the court

An apprehended violence order is not a conviction, but it is not invisible either, and this is where people are most often caught out after the fact.

Firearms. Under the Firearms Act 1996 (NSW), a licence authorising a person to possess or use a firearm is automatically suspended when an interim apprehended violence order is made against them, and automatically revoked when a final order is made. Firearms must be surrendered.

Work with children. The Office of the Children’s Guardian conducts risk assessments for working with children checks, and seeks information from other agencies including about court orders relating to apprehended violence or domestic and family violence. An order is not a disqualifying conviction, and it is not nothing either.

Other work and status. Some occupations and licensing schemes have their own requirements, and immigration status can be affected by what happens in related criminal proceedings. If any of these apply to you, say so at the very start, before any decision about consenting is made.

This guide does not print the length of any licence disqualification or order, because those depend on the order made and on legislation that is amended. Check the current position in the Act and with the relevant scheme.

What an order is not

It is not a criminal conviction, and it is not a sentence.

It is not a finding that you are a violent person or a bad parent, and consenting to one without admissions is not an admission that anything alleged occurred.

It is not permanent. A final order runs for the period the court sets, and it can be varied or revoked on application. See variations and revoking an order.

And it is not something you can negotiate privately with the protected person. Only a court can change it, whatever the two of you would prefer.

What usually happens

Read the order before anything else

Every page, including the conditions. They apply from the moment you are served, whatever you think of the allegations.

Make your arrangements comply today

Where you sleep, how you get to work, where the children are collected. Change them deliberately rather than relying on habit.

Stop contact if the order says so

Including through friends and family, and including replies to messages the other person sends you. Their consent does not lift a condition.

Find out who applied, and what is alleged

Police application or private application, and the grounds relied on. It changes what can happen next.

Get advice before the first court date

Particularly before agreeing to anything. What an order does afterwards depends on your work, your licences and your family, not on what is convenient on the day.

Common questions

Is an AVO a criminal conviction?

No. It is a civil order made by a court to protect a person, and it does not by itself give you a criminal record. Contravening it is a separate criminal offence under section 14 of the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW), and a conviction for that is a criminal conviction.

What is the difference between an ADVO and an APVO?

The relationship between the people. An ADVO is made where the parties are in a domestic relationship as the Act defines it, which covers partners, former partners, household members, relatives and certain care relationships. An APVO is made where they are not — the Local Court gives neighbours and co-workers as examples.

Who can apply for an order?

Police can apply on behalf of a person who needs protection, and must apply where that person is under sixteen. A person can also make a private application to the Local Court, which is the usual route where police decide not to apply.

Can I be served with an order without ever having been charged?

Yes. An application for an order is a civil application, and it does not depend on a criminal charge having been laid. Charges are sometimes laid as well, and sometimes not.

Do I have to go to court?

You or your lawyer must attend the date on your paperwork. If nobody appears, an order can be made in your absence, and its conditions may be wider than the ones you would have agreed to if you had been there.

Can I talk to the protected person to sort it out?

If a condition prohibits contact, no. It binds you regardless of who initiates contact and regardless of whether they agree to it.

How long does an order last?

A final order runs for the period the court sets when it makes the order. Interim and provisional orders operate until the court deals with the application. Read your own order for the dates, and see revoking an order if you want it ended earlier.

Have the order in front of you

Almost every question about an AVO is answered from the document itself. If you have been served, keep every page together, including the ones that look like a form.