Apprehended Violence Orders

Information about applying for, and responding to an application for, an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO).

  • This topic covers

    This topic covers

    • Applying for an Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO) or an Apprehended Personal Violence Order (APVO)
    • Responding to an ADVO or APVO application
    • The role of the police in domestic violence incidents
    • How domestic violence support agencies share personal and health information about victims and alleged perpetrators of domestic violence
    • The national domestic violence order scheme

Time limitAction
28 days, or three months with leave (permission) of the court
To appeal a decision of the Local Court to the District Court to:
 
  • make an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO)
  • refuse to make an AVO
  • vary an AVO
  • refuse to vary an AVO
  • revoke an AVO
  • refuse to revoke an AVO
  • make a costs order.
No time limit
To apply to vary or revoke an AVO. You can't apply to have an AVO revoked if it has expired.
Two years
To apply for an annulment if you missed court and an AVO was made against you in your absence.

Organisations

OrganisationResponsibilities
Local Court of NSWHears applications for an AVO.
PoliceOnly the police can apply to the Local Court of NSW for an AVO to protect children.
Children's Court of NSW

Hears applications for an AVO where the defendant is a child. 

Has the power to make, vary, or revoke an AVO for the protection of a child who is the subject of care and protection proceedings

Legislation

AuthorityCovers
Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW)

Applications for AVOs and the offence of contravening an AVO. 

An application for an AVO is a civil matter. It is not a criminal offence to have an AVO made against you.

Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 1900 (NSW)

National recognition of AVOs made on or after 25 November 2017:

  • an ADVO is automatically recognised and enforceable in any State or Territory
  • a registered foreign order will automatically be recognised in other States and Territories
  • you can apply to vary (change) or revoke (cancel) an ADVO in any State or Territory
  • you can apply to vary or revoke an interstate Domestic Violence Order in NSW. 

An ADVO made before 25 November 2017 is not automatically recognised and enforceable in another State or Territory unless you apply to any Local Court for the order to be declared and nationally recognised

Common termDefinition

Applicant

​The person who applies for an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO). This will usually be the police or the Person in Need of Protection (PINOP).
Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO)An order made by a court that protects people from violence committed by someone that they are, or were, in domestic relationship with.  

Apprehended Personal Violence Order (APVO)

An order made by a court that protects a person from violence committed by someone who they are not, and have not been, in a domestic relationship with. For example, neighbours or work colleagues.
​Apprehended Violence Order (AVO)​An order made by the Local Court of NSW that aims to protect a person from another person who causes them to fear for their safety.

Central Referral Point

A state-wide electronic data collection and referral platform that receives and sorts referrals from all service providers and allocates them electronically to a Local Coordination Point based on the victims' gender and location.

​Court appointed questioner

​A person appointed by the court to ask the protected person or victim questions on behalf of a self-represented defendant during proceedings in domestic violence criminal matters and apprehended violence order proceedings. Court appointed questioners are court staff or Justices of the Peace. 

Defendant

A person who has an application for an AVO brought against them.
Domestic abuse or domestic violence

The terms domestic abuse, domestic violence and family violence are often used to describe the same behaviour.

Domestic abuse is behaviour by one person towards another in a domestic relationship which is:

  • violent or threatening
  • coercive or controlling, or
  • causes the person to fear for their safety or for the safety of others.

Domestic abuse can be a single act or a combination of acts over time. It also extends to behaviour that a child might hear, witness or otherwise be exposed to the effects of.

It may include the following behaviours, or threat of the following:

  • physical abuse or violence
  • sexual abuse, coercion or violence
  • economic or financial abuse
  • verbal abuse
  • shaming, degrading or humiliating a person
  • intimidation
  • stalking, harassing, monitoring or tracking a person
  • damaging or destroying property
  • harm to animals
  • spiritual abuse
  • deprivation or restriction of liberty or unreasonable regulation of a person’s day-to-day activities. 

​Domestic relationship

A relationship between two people that:

  • are or have been married, in a de facto relationship, or in an intimate personal relationship
  • have both had a domestic relationship with the same person, for example, a previous partner and a current partner of the same person, even if they have never met
  • are or have been living in the same household
  • are or have been living in the same residential facility (with some exceptions) or a detention centre
  • have, or had, a relationship where one person receives unpaid care for the other person
  • are, or have, been relatives
  • in the case of an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander, involve a person that is or has been part of the extended family or kin of the other person according to the Indigenous kinship system of the person's culture. Sometimes this is referred to as 'family violence'.

It is not a domestic relationship if the paid carer is applying for protection against the dependant person (and they do not have any other type of domestic relationship).

​Domestic Violence Order (DVO)

​A Local Domestic Violence Order, Interstate Domestic Order or Foreign Order.

Domestic Violence Liaison Officer (DVLO)

A specialist police officer, trained in the dynamics of domestic and family violence, child protection procedures, victim support and court AVO processes required for the protection of victims of family violence.
Domestic violence offenceAn offence committed by a person against another person where those people are in, or have been in, a domestic relationship and includes:
  • a personal violence offence such as assault, stalking, intimidation or sexual offences, or
  • an offence, other than a personal violence offence, in which the conduct that makes up the offence falls within the definition of domestic abuse.

​External Protection Order

​An ADVO made by a court in New Zealand or an APVO made by a court in another state or territory of Australia, or by a court in New Zealand. 

​Family Violence

​See 'Domestic abuse or domestic violence'.

Final AVO

An ADVO or APVO made by the Court after:

  • the Defendant consents to an AVO
  • the Defendant doesn't go to Court, or
  • a hearing.

​Foreign Order

​A domestic violence order made by a court in New Zealand. 
​Interim AVO

​An Interim Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) is an order that is made by a Court for a period of time, usually until the next court date.

An Interim AVO can be made by the Court:

  • when the protected person makes the application for the AVO and the person is in need of urgent protection
  • when the protected person makes the application for the AVO and the person is in need of urgent protection
  • at any time during the proceedings if it appears to the Court that it is necessary or appropriate to do so in the circumstances
  • at the first mention if a Provisional AVO had been made. The Provisional AVO will automatically become an Interim AVO with the same conditions as the Provisional AVO at the first mention unless:
    • the AVO is revoked
    • the matter is withdrawn or dismissed
    • the Court makes an Interim or Final AVO.
​Interstate Domestic Violence Order (Interstate DVO)A DVO made in another State or Territory Court of Australia.
Local Coordination PointsA network of non-government services that provide case coordination, threat assessment and review, and safety planning for victims of domestic violence. They also ensure that victims at serious threat are considered at a Safety Action Meeting.
​Local Domestic Violence Order (Local DVO)​An ADVO or an Interim ADVO made in NSW. 
Mandatory orders

The orders that must be in all AVOs. Also known as standard orders, or orders about behaviour.

They state that the Defendant must not do any of the following to the protected person or anyone the protected person has a domestic relationship with:

  • assault or threaten them
  • stalk, harass or intimidate them
  • intentionally or recklessly destroy or damage any property or harm any animal that belongs to or is in the possession of them.

Orders made before 27 March 2021 do not state that a Defendant must not harm an animal that belongs to, or is in the possession of, the protected person.

​Non-local Domestic Violence Order (Non-local DVO)​A DVO made interstate or in New Zealand. 
​Orders about behaviour​The orders that must be in all AVOs. See Mandatory orders.​

Person in Need of Protection (PINOP)

The person who needs protection from the Defendant. Also known as the protected person.

Police applicationAn application for an AVO made by the police on behalf of the person in need of protection.
Private applicationAn application for an AVO made by a person through the Local Court of NSW.
Property recovery orderAn order made by the Court that allows:
  • the Defendant to collect their property from the residence of the protected person, or 
  • the PINOP to collect their property from the residence of the Defendant.
Provisional AVO

A temporary order applied for by a police officer and granted by a court or senior police officer. Also known as a telephone interim order.

The police can apply for a Provisional AVO on behalf of the protected person at any time where they believe:

  • an order needs to be made immediately to ensure the safety and protection of the protected person, or
  • an order needs to be made immediately to prevent substantial damage to any property of the protected person.

Where a Provisional AVO has been made, it will automatically become an Interim AVO at the first mention unless:

  • the AVO is revoked
  • the matter is withdrawn or dismissed
  • the Court makes an Interim or Final AVO.

When a Provisional AVO is automatically converted to an Interim AVO, the Interim AVO will contain the same orders as the Provisional AVO.

Safety Action MeetingsRegular meetings chaired by a senior police officer and attended by key government and non-government service providers that aim to prevent or lessen serious threats to the safety of domestic violence victims and their children through targeted information sharing.
Safety Action PlanA list of targeted, time-specific actions developed at a Safety Action Meeting to prevent or lessen a serious threat to the life, health or safety of a domestic violence victim and their children. Safety Action Plans include actions for service providers, not victims.
Undertaking

A promise made to the Court, usually agreeing not to assault, harass, intimidate or stalk a protected person. An undertaking is not enforceable, and breach of an undertaking is not a criminal offence.

If you don't follow the undertaking, the other person could make another application for an AVO and the Court can take your behaviour

OrganisationFee
Local Court of NSWYou don't have to pay a fee to:
  • apply for an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) in the Local Court of NSW
  • vary or revoke an AVO in the Local Court of NSW
  • apply for an AVO to be declared as nationally recognised.

OrganisationForms
Local Court of NSW

Application for an AVO

  • If the police apply for an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) on your behalf, they will complete the forms.
  • If you want to make a private application for an AVO, the Registrar at the Local Court will assist you with the application form. You can get a copy of the form from your nearest Local Court registry.

Application to vary or revoke AVO

  • If the police applied for an AVO on your behalf and you want to extend, vary or revoke the AVO, you should contact the police to make an application in the Local Court.
  • If you want to extend, vary or revoke the AVO, you will need to complete an 'Application to Vary or Revoke Apprehended Violence Order' form. You can get a copy of this form from your nearest Local Court registry. 
Application to Declare a Domestic Violence Order (DVO) to be a Recognised DVO
 
  • If you want to have an ADVO declared and nationally recognised, you will need to complete the form Application to Declare a Domestic Violence Order (DVO) to be a Recognised DVO. You can get a copy of this form from your nearest Local Court registry. 

OrganisationTypeCosts
NSW Local CourtProfessional costs

Private application

A cost order will generally not be made against a protected person unless the Court considers that the application is frivolous or vexatious, for example, if it was made without good reason or just to cause annoyance.

Police application

An order for costs can't be made against an Applicant who is a police officer unless the Court is satisfied that the police officer made the application either:

  • knowing it contained anything false or misleading
  • seriously mismanaged the case proceedings.
Woman working on computer

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions about AVOs.

Last updated: April 2024