Serious domestic abuse prevention orders

About serious domestic abuse prevention orders

A serious domestic abuse prevention order is a court order that tells a person what they can or can’t do to stop them from committing domestic abuse against:

• a family member
• a current, former, or potential intimate partner, and
• a person in a domestic relationship with their intimate partner.

An order can be made against someone who:

• is at least 18 years old, and
• in the last 10 years, has been convicted of two or more domestic violence offences with a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment or more, or involved in serious domestic abuse.

You don’t have to be convicted of a serious domestic violence offence to have an order made against you. It is enough if you were charged but the charges were withdrawn. An order can also be made against you if you were acquitted of domestic violence charges, or you were convicted, but your convicted was later quashed or set aside. 

Who can apply?

Only the Commissioner of Police or the Director of Public Prosecutions can apply for a serious domestic abuse prevention order.

They must serve you with a copy of their application for an order at least 14 days before the hearing.

The hearing

When deciding whether to make an order, the court must be satisfied that an order would prevent domestic abuse against a family member, intimate partner or a person in a domestic relationship with an intimate partner.

The court must also consider the views of the family member, intimate partner or a person in a domestic relationship with an intimate partner. The court must be closed when they give evidence.

Varying or revoking an AVO

If you already have an AVO against you, and the court makes a serious domestic abuse prevention order against you, the court can vary or revoke the AVO if it is proper to do so.

If you are not in court when the AVO is varied, you must be served personally with the record of the variation or revocation.

If you are in court, but you aren’t served with the record of the variation or revocation, you must be sent a copy.

Service of an order

An order must be served on you personally.

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, they can serve the order on you by leaving it as close to you as possible while still staying safe. 

Duration of an order

A serious domestic abuse prevention order comes into effect:

• when it is served on the defendant, or
• on the date stated in the order.

It will last for the time stated in the order, which will be less than five years. 

Consequences of an order

Breaching your order

It is an offence to breach a serious domestic abuse prevention order.

You will breach an order if you knowingly do something the order says you can’t do.

The maximum penalty for this offence is up to $33,000 fine and/or up to five years imprisonment.

You can’t be found guilty of this offence if you weren’t in court when the order was made and haven’t been served with a copy of the order.

Apprehended violence orders

If you have a serious domestic abuse prevention order and an apprehended violence order (AVO), you must follow both orders.

If the two orders are inconsistent, the serious domestic abuse prevention order will override the apprehended violence order (AVO). This means you must follow the conditions in the serious domestic abuse prevention order if the two orders are inconsistent. And you must follow the conditions of both orders that aren’t inconsistent.

If you are unsure about the conditions you must comply with, you should get legal advice.

Firearms licence

If a serious domestic abuse prevention order is made against you, your firearms licence will be revoked. You must immediately surrender your firearms and licence to the police. If you don’t, police may seize your firearms and charge you with an offence.

If your order prohibits you from possessing a firearm, you may be charged with breaching the order, which is a criminal offence. 

Your firearms will have to be disposed of or destroyed.

You will have to wait for 10 years after the order expires before you can apply for a new firearms licence. You will need to show that you are a 'fit and proper person' to have a licence.

If the court revokes the order, you may be able to apply for a firearms licence right away.

Appeals

If a serious domestic abuse prevention order is made against you, you may be able to appeal within 28 days.

If the order was made in:

• the Local Court of NSW, you may be able to appeal to the Supreme Court of NSW
• the Supreme Court of NSW, you may be able to appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Appealing the order doesn’t stay (stop) the operation of the order. You must ask the court that made the order to stay the order until your appeal is heard. The court must be satisfied that it is safe to stay the order.

After hearing your appeal, the court may:

• confirm the order
• vary the order
• set aside the order
• make a consequential or ancillary order.

Apply to vary or revoke an order

You can apply for the leave (permission) of the court to vary or revoke an order at any time. To grant you permission, the court must be satisfied that there has been a substantial change in the relevant circumstances since the order was made or last varied.

The court must allow you and the police or prosecutor to make submissions, and also consider the views of the family member, intimate partner, or a person in a domestic relationship with an intimate partner.