Breaching your apprehended violence order

Complying with your AVO

If an AVO has been made against you, you must follow the orders in the AVO while it is in force. If you don't, you may breach the AVO, and the police may charge you with a criminal offence.

For more information, see Charges and AVOs.

The police can enforce an apprehended domestic violence order (ADVO) made in NSW and any other Australian state or territory, and a registered foreign order. They can also enforce an apprehended personal violence order (APVO) made in NSW, or any other Australian state or territory and registered in NSW.

What is a breach?

You will breach an AVO if you knowingly do, or attempt to do, something that the AVO says you are not allowed to do.

If you breach an AVO by disobeying the orders, the police can arrest and charge you with:

• the criminal offence of contravening the AVO (breaching the AVO), and
• other criminal offences, for example, assault or malicious damage. 

You can be charged with multiple offences for the same behaviour because you have broken the law in multiple ways.

Depending on the charges, you may be released on bail or refused bail and held on remand. For more information, see Bail.

You can't be convicted of breaching an AVO if:

• you were not served with the AVO, and you were not in court when the order was made
• you went to mediation referred by the court
• you were following a property recovery order. 

If you breach a domestic violence order (DVO), NSW Police will check that:

• there is a nationally recognised DVO
• the DVO is current
• the conditions that relate to the reported breach
• either one or both parties was in NSW at the time of the alleged breach.

If you were not in NSW when the order was breached, NSW Police may refer the incident to the jurisdiction where you were located at the time of the breach for further investigation.

If you have been charged with breaching your AVO, or another criminal offence, you should get legal advice.

Accidental breaches

You may accidentally breach your AVO, for example, if you enter a building not knowing the protected person is inside.

If you accidentally breach your AVO, the police may still decide to charge you with breaching an AVO. However, you can't be found guilty of this offence unless you knowingly do, or attempt to do, something that an AVO says you are not allowed to do.

Sometimes the protected person may call you or ask you to meet somewhere. If the AVO states that you are not to contact the protected person, you can still be charged with breaching the AVO even though the protected person contacted you.

It is important that you understand the orders in your AVO so that you don’t breach them.

If the protected person wants you to do something that the AVO restricts you from doing, you should get legal advice.

Penalties for breaching an AVO

There are different penalties for breaching an AVO depending on whether you breached the AVO:

• knowingly (‘standard breach’)
• knowingly, intending to cause harm or fear to the protected person
• knowingly, and on at least 2 other occasions within 28 days.

Standard breach

If the local court convicts you of breaching the AVO, you can be fined up to $5,500 and/or imprisoned for up to two years.

If you breach an AVO by committing a crime, you can receive a separate sentence (punishment) for:

• breaching the AVO, and
• any crime(s) you are convicted of. 

If the breach involves violence, it is considered a serious offence and there is a strong chance you will be sent to prison if you are convicted. The AVO may also be varied (changed), to include stricter conditions and increase the duration of the AVO.

Any conviction will appear on your criminal record and in a Working With Children Check.

For more information about criminal charges, see Charges and AVOs.

Intention to harm or cause fear

There are more serious penalties if you are convicted of knowingly breaching an ADVO with the intention of:

• harming the protected person, or
• making them fear for their safety or the safety of another person.

You don’t have to actually harm the protected person or make them fearful to be convicted of this offence. You only need to breach the ADVO with that intention.

The penalty for this offence is up to $11,000 fine and/or imprisonment for up to three years.

If you are found not guilty of this offence, you can still be found guilty of a standard breach as discussed above.

Repeated breaches

You can be given even more serious penalties if you are convicted of:

• knowingly committing multiple breaches, three or more times within a 28 day period, and
• a reasonable person would think your behaviour is likely to physically or mentally harm the protected person, or make the protected person fear for their safety or the safety of another person.

You don’t have to be charged for all of the breaches that occurred to be charged with this offence. The breaches can relate to different protected persons. They don’t have to all relate to the same person.

The protected person(s) does not have to suffer actual physical or mental harm or fear for you to be charged.

The penalty for this offence is up to $16,500 fine and/or imprisonment for up to five years.

If you are found not guilty of this offence, you can still be found guilty of:

• a standard breach, or
• breaching the AVO with the intention to harm or cause fear to the protected person.