Domestic Violence & Family Harm
While we often refer to “family violence”, the main piece of legislation in the Family Court addressing violence between adults is the Domestic Violence Act. Domestic violence includes physical violence, sexual violence and psychological/emotional violence (e.g. stalking, harassment, verbal abuse, economic abuse, controlling or manipulative behaviour, threats, belittling, etc.). More recently the terminology "family harm" has been favoured by Police and other sector agencies.
When Police attend a family violence incident it is possible for the Police to issue a Police Safety Order (PSO) when they believe family violence has occurred or may occur. A PSO is a short term order which lasts between one to five days.
The person named in the PSO (bound person) must leave the address even if it is owned by the person or is where they usually live. The bound person must not subject the protected person (or their children) to any further violence or harassment. The bound person must not encourage anyone else to abuse or harass the protected person on their behalf.
A Protection Order is issued by the Court. This requires a court application and an affidavit. The Court needs to know whether there is a domestic or close personal relationship; what violence has occurred and; why the court order is necessary.
An application is filed, served on the other person – who has a chance to reply – and if the application is defended then a hearing is held for a Judge to determine any disputed facts and decide if the order is necessary.
In urgent situations (and this is what leads to most applications being made) an application and affidavit may be filed and seen quickly by a Judge. The Judge will make a decision about whether a Temporary Protection Order should be issued so there is immediate protection for the applicant and the children of the family. The Judge needs to be satisfied that the delay that might be caused by applying on notice (the standard process) might place the applicant or the children of the family at serious risk of injury, harm or undue hardship. The other party still has the chance to respond and have the matter heard in Court if the person disputes that a permanent order should be made.
In some situations (particularly when there are children) it is possible to apply for orders permitting exclusive occupation of the home and use of the furniture (including to furnish a new home) by the protected person.
Under the Care of Children Act the Court must take into account the children’s safety. This includes exposure to family violence as well as whether there are past Protection Orders involving other people. If the Court believes a child is unsafe with their parent then the Court can direct supervised contact. This might be supervised by a family member or by a professional person or organisation.
Depending on the circumstance, there is limited funding through the Court to pay for supervised contact but this is only intended to be a short term solution and is often for the purpose of receiving a report from the supervisor.
When Police attend a family violence incident it is possible for the Police to issue a Police Safety Order (PSO) when they believe family violence has occurred or may occur. A PSO is a short term order which lasts between one to five days.
The person named in the PSO (bound person) must leave the address even if it is owned by the person or is where they usually live. The bound person must not subject the protected person (or their children) to any further violence or harassment. The bound person must not encourage anyone else to abuse or harass the protected person on their behalf.
A Protection Order is issued by the Court. This requires a court application and an affidavit. The Court needs to know whether there is a domestic or close personal relationship; what violence has occurred and; why the court order is necessary.
An application is filed, served on the other person – who has a chance to reply – and if the application is defended then a hearing is held for a Judge to determine any disputed facts and decide if the order is necessary.
In urgent situations (and this is what leads to most applications being made) an application and affidavit may be filed and seen quickly by a Judge. The Judge will make a decision about whether a Temporary Protection Order should be issued so there is immediate protection for the applicant and the children of the family. The Judge needs to be satisfied that the delay that might be caused by applying on notice (the standard process) might place the applicant or the children of the family at serious risk of injury, harm or undue hardship. The other party still has the chance to respond and have the matter heard in Court if the person disputes that a permanent order should be made.
In some situations (particularly when there are children) it is possible to apply for orders permitting exclusive occupation of the home and use of the furniture (including to furnish a new home) by the protected person.
Under the Care of Children Act the Court must take into account the children’s safety. This includes exposure to family violence as well as whether there are past Protection Orders involving other people. If the Court believes a child is unsafe with their parent then the Court can direct supervised contact. This might be supervised by a family member or by a professional person or organisation.
Depending on the circumstance, there is limited funding through the Court to pay for supervised contact but this is only intended to be a short term solution and is often for the purpose of receiving a report from the supervisor.
