Services

Family Violence Restraining Orders

We can help people who have been hurt by their partner or a member of their family. This abuse is called ‘domestic violence’ or ‘family violence’. Family violence happens in range of kinship and marital relationships. For example, family violence may occur between or by aunts, uncles, and cousins, as well as between couples.

Family violence includes emotional, physical, emotional or sexual abuse and the acts of abuse includes assaults, threatening and intimidating behaviour, stalking, intimidation, property damage and more.

Family violence can be:

  • Physical: hitting, biting, scratching, wrecking your clothes or belongings;
  • Sexual: making you engage in unwanted sexual activities that you don’t want to do, or involving minors;
  • Psychological/mental/emotional: mind games, threatening to harm others or your pets, being jealous and controlling, verbally aggressive or threatening;
  • Verbal: swearing or shouting at you;
  • Financial: not giving you access to your money, spending all your money, or bossing you for your money;
  • Property damage: smashing up your house, car or any property;
  • Social abuse: not letting you have friends or see your family, or stopping you going places;
  • Spiritual and cultural abuse: not letting you practice your culture or speak you language, or not letting you practice your choice of religions;
  • Cyber-stalking: continuously contacting you via texting, ringing or other communications.

If you are experiencing any of these offensive behaviours in your relationship or family it is important that you contact us or another legal service about getting a Family Violence Restraining Order (FVRO).

How we can help

We can assist you prepare an application for a FVRO and will apply to the Court for an interim FVRO. If the other party opposes the making of a final FVRO we will assist you at a hearing. To successfully obtain a FVRO we need to show the court that the person has committed an act of abuse against you or they make you fear that they will commit an act of abuse against you and the court thinks it’s appropriate in those circumstances to make the restraining order.

In an emergency if you cannot see a lawyer or go to Court you should contact the Police directly and ask them to make a restraining order for you. They can make one for a short period and give you time to apply to the Court for a FVRO.

A restraining order can stop a person doing certain things like:

  • Being within a certain distance of you
  • Attending or being near your home or your work
  • Contacting you, either directly or through another person, including texting, ringing or other communications

If the person who is bound by the order does something that the FVRO says that can’t do, they are breaching the Order. You should report any breach of the FVRO to the police immediately.

In your application for a FVRO you can ask for the order to also protect your child(ren) or apply for a FVRO on behalf of child.

Contact us

For more information about our family law services please contact the office closest to you.