Stalked or Harassed in Tasmania? The Form Is On The Court's Website

Transcript

Someone is stalking you, harassing you, or threatening you in Tasmania, and they are not family. In a small state the problem feels closer, the same faces, the same streets. Nowhere that feels neutral. The law's answer here is called a restraint order, and getting one started is more within your reach than most people realise. A restraint order can require the person to stay away from you, stop contacting you, and stop the behaviour that brought you here.

The grounds are practical someone who has caused or threatened injury or damage and is likely to again someone whose provocative or offensive conduct is likely to continue and squarely someone who has stalked you. Family situations run through the family violence system instead, which we cover separately. How to start: The application form is on the Magistrates Court website, and you file it with the court in Hobart, Launceston, Devonport or Boerne.

The court decides on the balance of probabilities, which is the civil standard, more likely than not a far lower bar than a criminal trial and where there is urgency, the court can make an interim order to hold the line while the full application is heard. If police have not acted, remember how the two tracks fit together. Stalking is a crime in Tasmania, and criminal cases are built from patterns, so report each incident and keep the reference numbers even when nothing seems to happen. But the restraint order is a civil application. It is yours to make, on your evidence, at the civil standard.

You are not waiting in anyone's queue. Build the file that wins it. A diary kept as events happen, with dates, times, and exact words. Screenshots of every message and post backed up somewhere beyond your phone. Witnesses named while memories are sharp, and in a small state there often are witnesses. Photos of any damage. Police report numbers, all of them. And from you, silence. No replies. No retaliation. Nothing deleted. If the campaign runs online, the national doors open beside the Tasmanian one. The e Safety Commissioner can compel platforms to remove seriously abusive content aimed at you.

And using a phone or the internet to menace or harass someone is a federal crime carrying up to five years. An island address does not put anyone beyond either. Above everything, the one rule. If you are in immediate danger, ring triple zero every time. For the rest, the form is on the court's website. The standard is the civil one, and the file you start today is what carries it. If you would like help preparing the application or advice on your situation tonight, our hotline is free to call at any hour, and a consultation with a lawyer is a fixed price. The number is on your screen.