FVRO Served in WA? The 21-Day Clock Is Already Running

Transcript

You have been served with a family violence restraining order in Western Australia. These orders exist to keep people safe, and the West runs them differently to every other state. There is no automatic court date waiting for you. Instead, there is a clock. Twenty one days, and it started the moment those papers touched your hand. Here is the West Australian model. The order you are served is usually an interim order made by a magistrate without you there. It is in force right now, and you must follow every condition on it, whatever you think of them.

The question the next twenty one days answers is simple: does it become final? You have four choices, and silence is one of them: do nothing, and after twenty one days the interim order automatically becomes a final order consent by filling in the consent section on the back of the notice and returning it to the court or object in writing within the twenty one days. Objecting keeps the interim order in place, but it opens the door to being heard. If you do object, two roads open.

Where both sides agree, and the court offers it, your case can go to a restraining order conference, a structured attempt to resolve it without a fight. Otherwise, the court lists a final order hearing, where a magistrate hears both sides and decides whether a final order should be made. Either way, you finally get a voice in the room. Two traps to step around: one) The invitation trap: the person protected cannot excuse a breach, even if they reach out to you first. Breaching the order is a criminal offence, and only the court can change its conditions. Two, the drift trap. Twenty one days evaporates.

People plan to deal with it next week, and next week becomes a final order that can bind you for years. So, this week, not next. Read every condition and follow it exactly, including about the home, children, and workplaces. Make no contact with the protected person, direct or roundabout. Decide your path with advice, because consenting, objecting, and conferencing each suit different situations, and the wrong pick is expensive to unwind. Then whatever you choose, lodge it inside the twenty one days. A running clock, four choices, and a system where silence decides for you. That is a restraining order in the West.

Do not let the days drift. If you want to talk your situation through right now, our hotline is free to call at any hour, anywhere in the state. And a consultation with a lawyer is a fixed price. The number is on your screen.