What is an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO)?
An Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) is an order made by a court against you where you allegedly make another person (known as the person in need of protection or PINOP) fear intimidation, harassment or for their safety.
Apprehended violence orders can be stand-alone or applied for at the same time that criminal charges are laid by the police.
What do AVOs do?
All Apprehended Violence Orders (AVOs) provide you must not:
- Assault, threaten, molest, harass, or interfere with the protected person.
- Stalk or threaten the protected person; and
- Intentionally or recklessly destroy or damage any property belonging to the protected person or harm an an animal that belongs to or is in the possession of the protected person.
Other types of conditions that may be imposed include that you are:
- No longer allowed to reside at the family home.
- Not allowed to contact the protected person except through the use of a lawyer.
- Not allowed within a certain distance from the protected person/s residence, work or school.
- Not allowed to be in the company of the protected person for at least 12 hours after taking alcohol or drugs.
- Not allowed to try and locate the protected person.
Apprehended Violence Orders can have consequences beyond the conditions in the AVO. For example:
- Any firearms you have must be given in to the police, and you cannot get a new firearms licence until 10 years after the Apprehended Violence Order has ended.
- An Apprehended Violence Order can also affect your licence to work as a security officer, a police officer or other specific jobs.
- If the Apprehended Violence Order includes children, the Commission for Children and Young People may be notified, and your ability to work with children may be affected.
Is an AVO a criminal offence?
An Apprehended Violence Order is not a criminal offence. It will not give you a criminal record. However, contravening a condition in an Apprehended Violence Order is a criminal offence that includes maximum penalties of up to 2 years imprisonment and fines of up to $5,500.
Contesting an AVO
You have two options when the police or another person applies for an apprehended violence order (AVO) against you.
Those options are:
- Consent to the apprehended violence order (AVO) without admissions, and the court will make the order.
- Contest the apprehended violence order (AVO) and request the court dismiss it and request the court dismiss the order.
What do the police have to prove if I contest an AVO?
The court will dismiss the Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) if the police cannot prove that:
- The protected person fears that you will be violent towards, harass, intimidate, or stalk them, and
- The protected person’s fear is based on reasonable grounds.
The fear is at the time the Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) is being dealt with in court as opposed to the time that the application for the AVO is made.
What happens if I contravene an AVO?
Contravening a condition in an Apprehended Violence Order is a serious criminal offence.
If you are found guilty, you may be subject to considerable penalties, including a criminal record. \The maximum penalty for breaching an Apprehended Violence Order is a fine of $5500.00 and/or two years imprisonment.
When an Apprehended Violence Order is breached with an act of physical violence, the starting point in sentencing you will be imprisonment.
What is the law in relation to Apprehended Violence Orders?
For the court to make an Apprehended Violence Order against you, the police must prove on the balance of probabilities:
- The protected person fears that you will be violent towards them, harass or intimidate them or stalk them (this is a subjective test, which means that it is based on what the protected person feels); and
- The protected person’s fear is based on reasonable grounds (this is an objective test, which means it is based on whether the court believes that a person in the protected person’s situation would feel the same as the protected person).
The fear is at the time the Apprehended Violence Order is being dealt with in court.
How long does an AVO last?
The period of an Apprehended Violence Order is what the court finds is necessary to ensure the safety and protection of the protected person. The length typically sought by the police and ordered by the court is two years.Â
Can an AVO be varied or revoked?
An Apprehended Violence Order can be varied or revoked if there has been a change in circumstances.
The application needs to set out the reasons the person wants to vary or revoke the Apprehended Violence Order.
Applications to vary or amend an Apprehended Violence Order need to be submitted to a local court. A police officer, you, or the protected person can do this. Where the protected person is a child, only the police can apply for the Apprehended Violence Order to be varied or revoked.
Can I apply for an AVO?
You can apply for an Apprehended Violence Order by attending the local court and filling out an application. If you apply for an Apprehended Violence Order and the application fails, the costs can be awarded against you. It is best to apply for an Apprehended Violence Order with the assistance of one of our criminal lawyers.
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