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A Protection Order has two main conditions: no violence and no contact with the people protected by the Order.
The person who's been violent must not:
The person who's been violent must not:
If the person who applied for the Protection Order (called the applicant) wants to have contact with the person who’s been violent (called the respondent) they must say it is OK (give consent) in writing. They can give written consent by email, letter, text or other digital message.
However, if the court included special conditions restricting contact (such as supervised contact for a child or other no-contact conditions) they must be followed.
The applicant can change their mind and stop contact with the respondent at any time in any way, they don’t need to do it in writing they can just tell them.
‘No contact’ conditions don’t apply if the respondent and the applicant live together.
The applicant and the respondent can’t have contact with each other unless:
In some cases, the Protection Order will let the applicant have contact with their children. If this happens, it may be under supervision.
Find out more about contact with children
When the person who's been violent (the respondent) receives a Protection Order, they must give the Police:
Weapons are any firearm, airgun, pistol, restricted weapon, ammunition or explosive.
If the respondent gets a final Protection Order made against them, their firearms licence will be automatically cancelled by the police.
If the respondent breaks the conditions of a Protection Order, the Police can arrest them and they could appear in the criminal court.
If they’re found guilty of breaking the conditions of a Protection Order, they could be sent to prison for up to three years.
It’s also a crime if the respondent doesn't attend or complete a non-violence course when they’re ordered to. If convicted, they can be fined up to $5000 or sent to prison for up to six months.
When a Protection Order has been made against you, you’ll usually have to go to a non-violence course. The Order will say when and where the course will be held. The course is free of charge.
The course will focus on:
You’ll need to attend the course over several weeks.
We have created information packs for both applicants and respondents to help you understand the rules around Temporary Protection Orders:
Information pack for Applicants [PDF, 560 KB]
Information pack for Respondents [PDF, 548 KB]
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