Rules in apprehended violence orders
An Easy Read guide about about the rules of an apprehended violence order (AVO).
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In this guide, we explain the different rules for an apprehended violence order (AVO).
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Violence is when someone:
- hurts you
- scares you
- controls you.
What is an AVO?
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An AVO is a legal order to protect someone from being harmed by another person.
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Someone can apply for an AVO if a person has:
- used violence against them
- scared or threatened them.
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An AVO explains the rules a person must follow.
These rules are called orders.
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We explain the different types of orders below.
Mandatory orders
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Mandatory orders are rules that must be in every AVO.
They explain what someone must do if they get an AVO.
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For example, they can’t hurt or threaten the person protected by an AVO.
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The mandatory orders don’t stop someone from contacting or going near the person protected by an AVO.
Additional orders
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Additional orders are other rules the court can include in an AVO to make it stronger.
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But an AVO can’t include every additional order.
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There are additional orders about:
- contacting the person
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- family law and parenting
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- where you can’t go
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- weapons.
Orders about contacting the person
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There is an order that says someone can only contact the person protected by an AVO through a lawyer.
A lawyer is someone who knows and understands the law.
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There is an order that says someone is not allowed to be near the person protected by an AVO.
For example, they can’t go where the person works or studies.
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There is an order that says someone can’t go near the person protected by an AVO for 12 hours after they have had drugs or alcohol.
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There is an order that says someone is not allowed to try and find out where a person protected by an AVO is.
Orders about family law and parenting
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There is an order about how someone can contact the person protected by an AVO when they have children together.
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For example, someone can only talk to the person protected by an AVO:
- through a lawyer
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- when the court asks them to work through problems with a counsellor.
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A counsellor works with you to explore how you think and feel.
Orders about where someone can’t go
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There is an order that says someone is not allowed to live in the same place as the person protected by an AVO.
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There is an order that says someone is not allowed to go into places where the person protected by an AVO lives, works or studies.
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There is an order that says someone must be a certain distance from the person protected by an AVO.
For example, someone might have to stay 100 metres away from the person’s home.
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Someone can apply for a Property Recovery Order if they need to collect their things from the house where the person protected by an AVO lives.
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This will let someone with an AVO go to the house to collect their things without breaking the rules.
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You can find out how to get a property recovery order on our website.
Orders about weapons
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There is an order that says someone who gets an AVO is not allowed to have any weapons.
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But there doesn’t need to be an order in the AVO for this rule.
Anyone who gets an AVO is not allowed to have weapons.
More information about AVOs
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