Family Violence Orders in Tasmania: The Order Police Can Write Themselves

Transcript

You have been handed a family violence order in Tasmania, and the first thing to check is something most people never think to look at. Who made it? Because in Tasmania, an order like this can come from a courtroom or it can be written by the police themselves, and your options depend entirely on which one you are holding. The two kinds. A police family violence order is issued by a senior police officer on the spot, no court involved, and it can run for up to twelve months. A family violence order is made by a magistrate, and if you have been served with an application, there will be a court date on the papers.

Same purpose, keeping people safe. Very different roads for you. Holding a police order. Your paths look like this. Police can vary it themselves, but only if the protected person agrees and police are satisfied it stays safe. Otherwise, you apply to the magistrate's court to vary or revoke it and be ready. The onus is on you, and the court looks for a substantial change in circumstances since the order was made. That is exactly the kind of application where advice earns its keep. Facing a court application instead. Then the first court date is where your choices live.

You can consent to a final order, and that can be done without admitting the allegations. You can ask for time to get advice. Or you can contest it, and the court will timetable the matter towards a hearing where the evidence is tested. Not turning up is also a choice, the worst one, because orders can be made in your absence. Whichever kind you hold, the ground rules are identical. The order binds you from the moment it was served or given to you. Breaching it is a criminal offense, even though the order itself is not a conviction. And the protected person cannot excuse a breach, not even by inviting contact.

Until police or a court change it, it stands exactly as written. This week, work out which order you hold, it is written at the top of the papers. Follow every condition exactly, especially about contact, the home, and children. Write down your account of what happened while it is fresh. And get advice early because in a small state the right application made the right way moves faster than a muddled one. Two kinds of order, two different roads, one set of rules while it stands. That is Tasmania.

If you want help working out which road you are on and what to do about it, our hotline is free to call at any hour, and a consultation with a lawyer is a fixed price. The number is right there on your screen.