Conditions of a Protection Order

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A Protection Order has two main conditions: no violence and no contact with the people protected by the Order.

'No violence' condition

The violent person must not:

  • abuse (physically, sexually, financially or psychologically) the protected people
  • threaten to physically or sexually abuse the protected people
  • damage, or threaten to damage, property that belongs to the protected people
  • encourage anyone else to abuse or threaten the protected people.

'No contact' condition

The person who's been violent must not:

  • go to the home, workplace or school of the protected people
  • stalk the protected people by hanging around where they live, work or study
  • follow the protected people
  • try to stop the protected people from coming or going anywhere
  • phone, text, email, send letters, fax or contact the protected people in any other way.

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.

Contact with the other person

The applicant and the respondent can’t have contact with each other unless:

  • there's an emergency and the contact is reasonably necessary
  • contact is part of a court Order (such as a Parenting Order) or a written parenting agreement between the applicant and the respondent
  • the contact is listed as a special condition of the Protection Order
  • they need to take part in a family group conference, restorative justice conference, settlement conference under the Care of Children Act or any other court proceedings.

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

If the person who's been violent has weapons

When the person who's been violent (the respondent) receives a  Protection Order, they must give the Police:

  • any firearms licences they have
  • any weapons they have.

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 conditions are broken

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.

Going to a non-violence course

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:

  • understanding the effects of family violence on others
  • learning skills for living without violence.

You’ll need to attend the course over several weeks.

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