Domestic violence is when someone close to you hurts you. This person could be:
Domestic violence can happen to anyone. It is not a normal part of a healthy relationship.
What is domestic violence?
Legal Myths – Does domestic violence mean I need to prove they physically hurt me?
There are many types of domestic violence.
Physical abuse is when someone hurts you. For example, they might:
Sexual abuse is when someone forces or pressures you to take part in a sexual activity.
Emotional and psychological abuse is when someone makes you feel bad about yourself or afraid.
For example, they might:
Verbal abuse is when someone uses their words to hurt you. For example, they might call you a name or swear at you.
Economic and financial abuse is when someone controls how you get, use or keep money or economic resources.
For example, they might:
Coercive control is when someone uses a pattern of behaviour over a period of time to try and control your life. This behaviour is abusive and threatening. Coercive control can include one type of behaviour or many different behaviours. People who use coercive control might use a type of abuse as their pattern of behaviour. For example, economic and financial abuse.
You can find more information on our factsheet about coercive control.
Someone might threaten to:
Someone might stop you from being independent. Or they might threaten to do this.
Someone might stalk you. For example, they might:
Someone might pressure you to do, or not do, something or act in a certain way.
They might ask another person to do any of these things on their behalf.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, it is important that you get help. You should get help even if you are not sure if you are experiencing domestic violence.
If you are in immediate danger, call 000.
There are services that can support you if you are experiencing domestic violence.
These services can:
You can find local support services on the Queensland Government website.
You can contact DVConnect for support. Call 1800 811 811
You can contact 1800 RESPECT for support. Call 1800 737 732
You can contact us to request free legal advice. This includes advice about what legal protections you can get if you are experiencing domestic violence.
You can call 1800 957 957
There are also other places to get legal advice, including:
If you are not in immediate danger, you can contact police link.
Call 131 444.
You can also go to your local station and talk to someone in person.
You can speak to police about what is happening. This includes showing them any text messages or other evidence you might have.
They may charge the person using violence. They can also apply for protection for you by making:
A DVO is a legal order that a Magistrates Court can make. A DVO is sometimes called a protection order. It tells the person you want protection from that they are not allowed to do certain things or behave in certain ways.
The person you want protection from is ‘the respondent’. The person who wants protection is ‘the aggrieved’.
A DVO requires the respondent ‘to be of good behaviour and not to commit domestic violence’. It can also have other conditions.
For example, a DVO can prevent the respondent from:
A DVO can also do these things to protect your child or another person you want to protect. And it can prevent someone from visiting your child’s school or day care.
If the respondent doesn’t follow the conditions in a DVO, the police can charge them with a criminal offence and the court can punish them.
A respondent is banned from having or applying for a weapons license.
A DVO usually lasts for 5 years.
What is a protection order?
If you are over the age of eighteen (18), you can apply for a DVO if the person who abused you is:
If you are under the age of eighteen (18), you can apply for a protection order if the person who abused you is:
If you are under the age of eighteen (18) you are unable to make an application for a protection order against a parent or family member.
You can apply for a DVO at any local Magistrates Court. It is free to apply.
You can fill out a form online, or in writing.
You can find more information and forms on the Qld courts website.
The court will want to know what you have been experiencing. You might have to explain:
Three things needed for a protection order?
After you fill out the application form and give it to the Magistrates Court, they will give you a court date. The court will also organise for the police to give the respondent a copy of the application. You don’t have to organise this. Be aware that the respondent will read your application.
When you apply, you should ask the court to make a temporary protection order (TPO). A TPO can give you protection as soon as possible and until the matter goes through the whole court process.
The court can make TPOs urgently. Sometimes they can do this before the respondent has a copy of the application. It is important to tell the court registry if you have any concerns for your immediate safety. You should also share if you have any concerns about your safety once the respondent has a copy of the application. And you should include these concerns in your application form.
This can help the court decide how urgent it is to consider your TPO and what conditions you need in your TPO.
There are several ways the respondent might react after they receive a copy of the application.
The respondent can ignore the application and not attend court. If they do this the court can make a TPO or final DVO against them. The court can only do this if your application meets all other legal criteria.
The respondent can attend court and agree to the DVO. This is called consenting. The respondent will usually consent ‘without admissions’. This means they won’t admit to the domestic violence.
The respondent can attend court and ask for more time. This is called an adjournment. If the court decides to adjourn the matter, they will give you a later court date.
The respondent can attend court and ask to fight the application. This is called contesting. The court does not need to remove the TPO if the respondent does this. But they might remove the TPO for other reasons.
If the respondent contests the DVO, the court will arrange a trial. This means you will have to write down all your evidence about why you think the court should make the DVO. If the police make the application for you, they will need to do this. The respondent will have to write down all their evidence about why they think the court shouldn’t make the DVO. You must both do this by a certain date.
After this, the court will give both of you a trial date. During the trial, the court will usually ask both of you questions about your evidence. This is called cross-examination.
You will need to attend each court date to pursue the application. If the police made the application for you, they must attend each court date. If you stop attending your court dates, the court can make the decision without you.
If the respondent also files their own application for a protection order against you, this is called cross-application. If this happens you should get legal advice.
Your TPO or DVO can protect your children if they have experienced or been exposed to domestic violence. When you fill out the form for a DVO, there is a section where you can add the child’s details and ask for certain conditions.
Legal Myths: Is a protection order the same as a parenting order?
A TPO or DVO doesn’t always stop the respondent from seeing your child. You can ask the court to make changes to your TPO or DVO, so that it supports your agreed parenting arrangements.
TPOs and DVOs are not the same as family law orders and they have a different purpose. You should get legal advice about which parenting orders are appropriate.
Yes. You can apply for a DVO to be removed if it is safe to do so. You can also apply for the court to make changes to your DVO. If the court agrees to these changes, your DVO will be varied. You can ask the court to increase or decrease the conditions or the time period of your DVO, where appropriate. You should seek legal advice about what information the court will consider before applying for any changes.
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