Vary or revoke an AVO
After an AVO is made, it can be varied (changed) or revoked (cancelled).
An AVO can be varied to:
- extend how long it applies for
- reduce how long it applies for
- add conditions
- remove conditions
- change a current condition.
The Local Court of NSW can vary or revoke an apprehended domestic violence order (ADVO) made in another state or territory. It also has the power to vary or revoke an apprehended personal violence order (APVO), but only if it is registered.
For information about AVOs from other states and how to register and enforce them, see Interstate orders (protected person)
Who can apply?
An application to vary or revoke an interim or final AVO can be made by:
- the police
- each protected person
- a protected person’s guardian
- the defendant.
Provisional AVOs
Only the police can apply to vary a provisional AVO where the AVO was made by the court.
A defendant can apply to vary a provisional AVO made by a senior police officer.
The police will tell you if the defendant applies to revoke or vary a provisional AVO.
Police can apply for a provisional AVO to change an existing interim or final AVO with the same defendant. This could happen when a new domestic violence incident occurs and police decide to apply for a provisional AVO with new orders.
The provisional AVO should not reduce the protection given to you under an existing interim or final AVO. If it reduces your protection or the conditions are inconsistent, you should get legal advice.
Protected person under 16
If a protected person is under 16, an application to vary or revoke the AVO 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 leave (permission) from the court to apply.
Indefinite ADVOs
To apply to vary or revoke an indefinite ADVO the defendant needs the court’s permission.
If the defendant wants to vary or revoke an indefinite ADVO, you should get legal advice.
How to apply
You must fill in an application form to vary or revoke an apprehended violence order.
The form is not available online. Go to your local court and ask registry staff to help you fill in and file the form.
If you want to vary (change) or revoke (cancel) an interim AVO, 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 usually be heard at the court where you file it.
Registry staff will give you the date when the court will hear your application. If you do not go to court on that date, your application may be dismissed.
If you want to vary or revoke an interstate domestic violence order (DVO), the court will consider:
- where you and the defendant normally live
- if it will be hard for the defendant to get to court
- whether there is enough information about the original DVO
- whether there is a current court case about a breach of the DVO
- whether the applicant can apply for and get a local DVO against the defendant
- the impact on any children listed as a protected person under the DVO
- anything else the court thinks is relevant.
If possible, apply in the state or territory that made the original order. That court will usually have the most information.
Before you apply to vary or revoke an interstate DVO, contact the domestic violence liaison officer or your local Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service (WDVCAS).
Change of circumstances
The 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 applied is trying to appeal the AVO.
Indefinite ADVOs
The court can only give the defendant leave (permission) to apply to vary or revoke an indefinite apprehended domestic violence order (ADVO) if there has been a significant change in circumstances since the ADVO was made, or if it is in the interests of justice.
You should get legal advice if the defendant wants to vary or revoke an indefinite AVO.
Extend or reduce an AVO
An AVO will be made for either:
- the time set 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) is:
- 12 months, if it was made before 28 March 2020
- 2 years, if it was made on or after 28 March 2020.
An ADVO made on or after 28 March 2020 can also be made for an indefinite period.
Reducing an AVO
The defendant may apply to reduce how long the AVO lasts. If this happens, you will be told.
If you object, the court may order you and the defendant to prepare written statements explaining why the AVO should or should not be reduced. The court will then list the application for a hearing. At the hearing, you, the defendant and any witnesses can give evidence.
If the defendant wants to reduce an indefinite AVO, or an AVO made to continue after their release from prison, you should get legal advice.
Extending an AVO
If the AVO is about to end and you are worried the defendant will assault, intimidate, harass or stalk you, you can apply to the court to extend it.
If you apply to extend the AVO, the AVO will stay in force until you go to court.
If the defendant objects, the court may order you and the defendant to prepare written statements explaining why the AVO should or should not be extended. The court will then list the application for a hearing. At the hearing, you, the defendant and any witnesses can give evidence.
For your application to succeed, the court must agree that you need the extension. For example, the defendant may have moved into a property in the same street as you, sent you a recent threatening message, or breached the current AVO.
For an example of a completed form, see:
You can apply to extend an AVO any time while the AVO is in force.
If you only apply to extend the AVO just before it ends, the court can extend the AVO without telling the defendant first.
The court can extend the AVO for up to 21 days before the application is heard, unless another order is made or the AVO is revoked.
Revoke an AVO
You or the defendant can apply to revoke (cancel) the AVO. An AVO can only be revoked while it is still in force. Once it has expired it can’t be revoked.
A defendant may apply to revoke an AVO because:
circumstances have changed and the defendant thinks the AVO is no longer needed
the AVO stops the defendant .
An AVO does not give someone a criminal record. However, it stops the defendant from doing certain things like:
- holding a firearms licence for 10 years.
- working in the security industry, see Security licence.
A defendant who wants a firearms licence or security licence may apply to revoke the AVO. If the defendant applies to revoke the AVO, you will be told.
If you object, the court may order you and the defendant to prepare written statements explaining why the AVO should or should not be revoked. The court will then list the application for a hearing. At the hearing, you, the defendant and any witnesses can give evidence.
If the court revokes the AVO, the defendant will no longer be restricted from having a firearms licence.
If you have been served with the defendant’s application to revoke the AVO, you should get legal advice.
Vary an AVO
You want to vary the AVO
You may want to vary an interim or final AVO, because:
- you think the current orders don’t protect you enough, or
- you want one or more of the orders removed.
If the defendant objects, the court may order you and the defendant to prepare written statements explaining why the AVO should or should not be varied. The court will then list the application for a hearing. At the hearing, you, the defendant and any witnesses can give evidence.
For your application to succeed, you need to show the court there has been a change in circumstances. For example, you and the defendant may have reconciled and want to keep living together. This may mean you need an order about contact removed from the AVO. You can still have an AVO and live with the defendant, as long as the orders allow it.
Defendant wants to vary (change) the AVO
The defendant can also apply to vary the AVO. If the defendant applies, you will be told.
If you object, the court may order you and the defendant to prepare written statements explaining why the AVO should or should not be varied. The court will then list the application for a hearing. At the hearing, you, the defendant and any witnesses can give evidence.
If you have been served with the defendant’s application to vary the AVO, you should get legal advice.
Serious offences
If the defendant pleads guilty or is found guilty of a serious offence, the court can vary (change) an interim or final AVO against them, even if no one applied for it.
The court can do this to give you more protection from the defendant.
If an ADVO is made against a defendant after they are sentenced to full-time prison for a serious offence, the court can order that the ADVO stays in force while the defendant is in prison and for 2 years after their release.
For more information about serious offences, see Charges and AVO.
Serving an application
If you or police apply to vary (change) or revoke (cancel) your AVO, a copy of your application must be served on the defendant.
If you are the protected person, you don't have to serve your application yourself. Police may serve it for you. Police can also serve the application on the defendant if the defendant is in prison.
If the defendant applies to vary or revoke the AVO, notice of the application must be served on everyone involved. This means each protected person must get a notice of the application and if the police applied for the AVO, then they must be served as well.
An application to vary or revoke an AVO must be served in person, unless the court orders another way to serve it.
It must be:
- handed to the person, or
- put down near the person, and the person must be told.
If the person serving the application can’t safely approach the defendant because of violence or threatened violence, they can leave the application as close to them as possible while staying safe.
The court cannot vary or revoke an AVO unless the application has been served properly.
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