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Vary or revoke an AVO (defendant)

Information about how to apply to vary (change) or revoke (cancel) an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) if you are the defendant.

After an AVO is made, it can be varied (changed) or revoked (cancelled).

An AVO can be varied to:

  • extend the duration of the AVO
  • reduce the duration of the AVO
  • add orders
  • delete orders
  • change orders.

The Local Court of NSW can vary or revoke an Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO) made in another state or territory, and a registered Apprehended Personal Violence Order (APVO).

Who can apply?

An application to vary (change) or revoke (cancel) an Interim or Final AVO can be made by:

  • the police
  • each protected person
  • a guardian of a protected person
  • the defendant.

Only the police can apply to vary a Provisional AVO that was made by the Court.

You can apply to vary a Provisional AVO made by a senior police officer. 

If you apply to vary or revoke a Provisional AVO you must serve it on the Local Area Command (LAC) of the police who applied for the AVO. The contact details of the LAC will be on the Provisional AVO served on you by police. The police will notify the protected person.

The police may apply for a Provisional AVO to vary an existing Interim or Final AVO with the same protected person. This could happen when a new domestic violence incident occurs and the police decide to apply for a Provisional AVO with new orders. 

An application to vary or revoke an AVO with a protected person who is under 16 years of age can be made by:

  • a parent of the child
  • the Department of Communities & Justice (DCJ)
  • the police.

If the police applied for the AVO, you need the leave (permission) of the Court to apply.

You need the leave (permission) of the Court to apply to vary or revoke an indefinite AVO. 

If you want to vary or revoke an indefinite AVO, you should get legal advice.

How to apply

You must complete an Application to Vary or Revoke Apprehended Violence Order form.

The form is not available online. You will need to visit your Local Court and ask the registry staff to help you fill out and file the form. 

If you want to vary or revoke a Provisional or Interim AVO, you should file your application with the Court that is hearing your case.

If you want to vary or revoke a Final AVO, you can apply at any Local Court in NSW. You don’t need to go back to the same court that made the AVO. Your application will generally be heard by the Court where you file the application. 

The registry staff will give you the date when the Court will hear your application. If you don’t go to court on this date, your application may be dismissed.

A court can refuse to hear an application to vary or revoke an AVO if:

  • there has not been a change of circumstances since the order was made, and
  • the person who made the application is trying to appeal the AVO. 

A court can only grant leave (permission) to a defendant to apply to vary or change an indefinite Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO) if there has been a significant change in circumstances since the ADVO was made or it is otherwise in the interests of justice.

If you want to vary or revoke an interstate Domestic Violence Order (DVO), the Court will consider:

  • where you and the protected person normally live
  • any difficulty the protected person may have in attending court
  • if there is sufficient information about the original DVO
  • whether the case is currently being heard in court for a breach of the DVO
  • the practicality of the applicant applying for and obtaining a local DVO against you
  • the impact on the children who are listed as protected persons under the DVO
  • any other relevant matters.

If possible, an application to vary or revoke should be made in the state or territory that made the original order as they will hold the most information.

Before you apply to vary or revoke an interstate DVO, you should get legal advice.

A Final AVO will be made for:

  • the period of time specified by the Court, or
  • the default period.

The default period for an Apprehended Personal Violence Order (APVO) is 12 months.

The default period for an Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO) made:

  • before 28 March 2020 is 12 months
  • after 28 March 2020 is two years.

An ADVO made after 28 March 2020 can be made for an indefinite period of time.

If you believe that the protected person no longer needs the AVO because of a change in circumstances, you can apply to the Court to reduce the length of the AVO.

If the protected person or applicant objects to your application, you and the protected person or applicant may be ordered to prepare written statements explaining why the AVO should or shouldn't be reduced. Your application will then be listed for a hearing where you, the protected person or applicant and any witnesses will be able to give oral evidence.

For your application to be successful, you will need to show that there has been a change in circumstances that require the change. For example, you may have moved interstate and no longer pose any threat to the protected person.

Sample: Sample Application to Vary (reduce) an Apprehended Violence Order

Before applying to reduce the AVO, you should get legal advice. The Court may decide that you are still a threat to the protected person, even though you have moved interstate or a long distance from the protected person.

If you want to reduce the duration of an indefinite AVO or an AVO made to continue after your release from gaol, you should get legal advice.

If the AVO is about to expire, the protected person or the applicant may apply to extend the length of an AVO. If they do, you will be notified.

An application to extend an AVO can be made up until the last day that it is in force.

If an application to extend an AVO is made, the AVO will stay in force until you go to court.

If an application is made the day before the AVO expires, the AVO still stay in force for 21 days unless another order is made or it is revoked. 

Sample: Sample Application to Vary (extend) an Apprehended Violence Order

If you want to object to the application, you and the protected person or applicant may be ordered to prepare written statements explaining why the AVO should or shouldn't be extended. The application will then be listed for a hearing where you, the protected person or applicant and any witnesses will be able to give oral evidence.

If you are concerned about the application to extend an AVO, you should get legal advice.

You or the protected person can apply to have the AVO revoked (cancelled). The AVO can only be revoked while it is still in force. It can't be revoked once it has expired.

You may want the AVO revoked because:

  • there is a change in circumstances and you feel the AVO is not necessary
  • the AVO places restrictions on you.

You need the leave (permission) of the Court to apply to revoke an indefinite AVO. Before you apply, you should get legal advice.

While an AVO does not give a person a criminal record, it does mean that you can't hold a firearms licence for 10 years. It also places restrictions on you working in the security industry. If you want to get a firearms licence or security licence you may want to ask the Court to revoke an AVO.

If the protected person or applicant objects to your application, you and the protected person or applicant may be ordered to prepare written statements explaining why the AVO should or shouldn't be revoked. Your application will then be listed for a hearing where you, the protected person or applicant and any witnesses will be able to give oral evidence.

Sample: Sample Application to Revoke Apprehended Violence Order 

You want to vary the AVO

You can apply to vary (change) the original orders made, if you think:

  • that some of the original orders are no longer necessary, or
  • they place too many restrictions on you and you want one or more of the orders removed.

If the protected person or applicant objects to your application, the Court may order you to prepare written statements explaining why the AVO should or shouldn't be varied. Your application will then be listed for a hearing where you, the protected person or applicant and any witnesses will be able to give oral evidence.

For the AVO to be varied, you need to show the Court that there has been a change in circumstances. For example, you and the protected person may have reconciled and want to start living together again, which might mean you need to have an order restricting contact removed from the AVO. It is possible to still have an AVO in place and live with the protected person, as long as the orders made in the AVO allow this.

You need the leave (permission) of the Court to apply to vary an indefinite AVO. Before you apply, you should get legal advice.

Protected person wants to vary the AVO

The protected person and the applicant can also apply to vary the terms of an AVO. You will be notified if this happens.

If you object to the application, the Court may order you to prepare written statements explaining why the AVO should or shouldn't be varied. The application will then be listed for a hearing where you, the protected person or applicant and any witnesses will be able to give oral evidence.

If you have been served with an application to vary an AVO, you should get legal advice.

The Court can vary an Interim or Final Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) against you, regardless of whether an application to vary the AVO has been made, if you are guilty of a serious offence.

The Court can do this to provide greater protection to the protect person. 

If an ADVO is made against you after you are sentenced to full time gaol for a serious offence, the Court can order that the ADVO remain in place while your are in gaol and for 2 years after your leave gaol.

For more information about serious offences, see Charges and AVOs. 

If you apply to vary or revoke an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO), you must serve a copy of your application on each protected person.

If you are the defendant in a police AVO (where police have applied for an AVO on behalf of someone else), you should serve a copy of your application on the Commissioner of Police. 

If you are the defendant in a private AVO (where the applicant is not a police officer), the police may serve your application on the protected person.

You should check with the court registry when you file your application whether the police will serve the application, or whether you need to serve it on police. 

If you apply to vary or revoke a Provisional AVO you must serve it on the Local Area Command (LAC) of the police who applied for the AVO. The contact details of the LAC will be on the Provisional AVO served on you by police.

If you are unsure what you need to do to serve the application, get legal advice. 

Getting served with an application

If the police or the protected person are applying to vary or revoke your AVO, you must be served with a copy of the application personally, unless the court orders a different method of service.

It must be:

  • handed to you, or
  • put down in your presence and you must be told what you are being served with.

If the server can’t approach you because of violence or threatened violence, the server can leave the application as close to you as possible while staying safe.

If the protected person is applying, they do not have to serve the application themselves. The police may serve the application for them. The police can also serve the application if you are in prison.

The Court can’t vary or revoke an AVO unless the application has been served properly.