The Law Handbook 2024

Chapter 4.4: Family violence 295 An intervention order may be: • interim (for a short period until a final hearing); or • final (for a longer prescribed period, or for an indefinite period). An intervention order may also contain exceptions, such as ‘do anything that is permitted by a Family Law Act order, a child protection order, or a written agreement about child arrangements’. Once an intervention order is made, the affected family member is known as the ‘protected person’. Interim intervention orders Under the FVP Act (s 53), an interim intervention order can be made by a magistrate who is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that an interim order is necessary (pending a final decision about the application): • to ensure the safety of the affected family member; or • to preserve any property of the affected family member; or • to protect an affected family member who is a child who has been subjected to family violence committed by the respondent. Final intervention orders Under the FVP Act (s 74), a final intervention order can be made by a magistrate who is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the respondent has committed family violence against the affected family member and is likely to continue to do so or do so again. This is a more onerous test as the court must be satisfied, according to the civil standard, that there has been family violence in the past and the respondent is likely to commit family violence again. How do I get a family violence intervention order? An application for a family violence intervention order needs to be filed with the registrar at a Magistrates’ Court. There is a list of Magistrates’ Courts at www.mcv.vic.gov.au. There is no filing fee. An affected family member can apply for an intervention order in person, or by lodging a written application, or through another person (e.g. a friend, refuge worker or solicitor), or through the police. One application can be used to cover a parent and their children against the same respondent. Sometimes an affidavit (i.e. a sworn statement) or a written statement with further details of the alleged behaviour (known as ‘further and better particulars’) is filed too. Police applying for intervention orders Police officers are increasingly more active and interventionist in family violence cases. Victoria Police operate under two frameworks: Policing Harm, Upholding the Right: Victoria Police strategy for family violence, sexual offences and child abuse 2018–2023 and the important updated Code of Practice for the Investigation of Family Violence , 4th edn, version 2, 2022 (‘ Code of Practice ’). In 2023, Victoria Police conducted Operation Enforceable, which targeted and apprehended over 3000 family violence perpetrators with outstanding warrants and unserved intervention orders resulting in around 460 arrests. Police can apply for an intervention order on behalf of a family member experiencing violence – even without the consent of the affected family member. Police now act as applicants (i.e. the person seeking the intervention order) in almost 75 per cent of all cases. One of the benefits of a police officer acting as an applicant is that police officers can apply for interim intervention orders by telephone outside normal court hours. This is useful in emergency situations, at night, during weekends, or in isolated country areas where the nearest courthouse is far away. Police also have ‘holding powers’ where a police officer can apprehend and detain an adult for six hours (or 10 hours if extended by a court) in order to apply for and/or serve an intervention order. In addition, police officers of the rank of sergeant and above have the power to issue a ‘family violence safety notice’ to ensure the safety of a family member, or to preserve property, or to protect a child. The police cannot issue a notice against a person under 18 years old. A safety notice can be issued at any time and lasts up to the first ‘mention’ date, which is the first date on which the application for an intervention order is listed before the court. The first mention date should be no later than 14 days after the safety notice was served on the respondent. A safety notice has the same effect as an interim intervention order and is a very useful tool for providing immediate protection.