Time limit | Action |
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28 days, or three months with leave (permission) of the court | To appeal a decision of the Local Court of NSW to the District Court of NSW to:
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No time limit | To apply to vary or revoke an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO). You can't apply to have an AVO revoked if it has expired.
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Two years | To apply for an annulment if you missed court and an Apprehended Violence Order was made against you in your absence.
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Organisation | Responsibilities |
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Local Court of NSW | Hears applications for an Apprehended Violence Order. |
NSW Police Force | Only the police can apply to the Local Court of NSW for an Apprehended Violence Order to protect children. |
Children's Court of NSW | Hears applications for an Apprehended Violence Order (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 |
Authority | Covers |
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Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW) | Applications for an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) 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)Â Act 1900 (NSW) | National recognition of Apprehended Violence Orders made on or after 25 November 2017:
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 of NSW for the order to be declared and nationally recognised. |
Common term | Definition |
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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 | AÂ 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 Apprehended Violence Order 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:
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:
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​Domestic relationship | A relationship between two people that:
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 Apprehended Violence Order processes required for the protection of victims of family violence. |
Domestic violence offence | An offence committed by a person against another person where those people are in, or have been in, a domestic relationship and includes:
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​External Protection Order | ​An Apprehended Domestic Violence Order made by a court in New Zealand or an Apprehended Personal Violence Order 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 Apprehended Violence Order | An Apprehended Domestic Violence Order or an Apprehended Personal Violence Order made by the court after:
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​Foreign Order | ​A domestic violence order made by a court in New Zealand. |
​Interim Apprehended Violence Order | ​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:
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​Interstate Domestic Violence Order (Interstate DVO) | A DVO made in another state or territory court of Australia. |
Lapsing interim order | A lapsing interim order is a temporary order that may be made in domestic violence cases where there is a standalone Apprehended Domestic Violence Order and your case is in a court with a Specialist Family Violence List Pilot. To make a lapsing interim order, the court will make an interim Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) and adjourn the case for some time. If there are no breaches during that time, the AVO may be withdrawn and dismissed. If there are breaches, the court may make a final AVO or set a date for hearing. This process gives a chance to avoid a final, permanent order if the temporary one is followed. |
Local Coordination Points | AÂ 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 Apprehended Domestic Violence Order or an Interim Apprehended Domestic Violence Order made in NSW. |
Mandatory orders | The orders that must be in all Apprehended Violence Orders. 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:
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 Domestic Violence Order made interstate or in New Zealand. |
​Orders about behaviour | ​The orders that must be in all Apprehended Violence Orders. See Mandatory orders.​ |
Person in Need of Protection (PINOP) | The person who needs protection from the Defendant. Also known as the protected person. |
Police application | An application for an Apprehended Violence Order made by the police on behalf of the person in need of protection. |
Private application | An application for an Apprehended Violence Order made by a person through the Local Court of NSW. |
Property recovery order | An order made by the court that allows:
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Provisional Apprehended Violence Order (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 Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) on behalf of the protected person at any time where they believe:
Where a Provisional AVO has been made, it will automatically become an Interim AVO at the first mention unless:
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 Meetings | Regular 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 Plan | A 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. |
Specialist Family Violence List Pilot | The Specialist Family Violence List Pilot Practice Note established the Specialist Family Violence List Pilot (‘the List’). The List operates in certain local courts in NSW and applies to all family violence related cases listed at those locations. This includes:
The list aims to deal with these cases more quickly and in a trauma-informed way. |
Undertaking | A formal promise made by a person to the court that they will or will not do something. In an Apprehended Violence Order case, 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. |
Organisation | Fee |
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Local Court of NSW | You don't have to pay a fee to:
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Organisation | Forms |
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Local Court of NSW | Application for an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO)
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Application to vary or revoke Apprehended Violence Order (AVO)
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Application to Declare a Domestic Violence Order (DVO) to be a Recognised DVO
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Organisation | Type | Costs |
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Local Court of NSW | Professional 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:
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Last updated: July 2025