What it does
This Act creates three discrete civil restraining‑order regimes (family violence restraining orders, violence restraining orders and misconduct restraining orders), a short emergency police‑order power, processes for telephone and in‑person applications, mechanisms for behaviour management interventions, and interstate and foreign registration and enforcement rules. The Act sets thresholds for each order type (family violence, personal violence, or specified misconduct) and gives courts, authorised magistrates, registrars and police officers powers to make interim and final orders that impose restraints on a named natural person’s lawful activities and behaviour (see ss 3, 7, 10D, 11A, 34). The Act also prescribes service, duration and variation rules (ss 10, 16-16B, Part 5), and criminal offences and penalties for contravention (ss 61, 61A, 61B).
Key procedural features include telephone applications for urgent FVROs and VROs (Div 2, ss 17-24), police orders where family violence is reasonably suspected (Div 3A, ss 30A-30H), and a behaviour management pathway attached to FVROs that permits courts to require eligibility assessment and attendance at an approved behaviour change programme (Part 1C, ss 10I-10Z). The Act makes firearms and explosives restraints automatic components of FVROs and VROs and connects those to seizure and notification powers (ss 14, 14A, 62E, 71). It relaxes rules of evidence in certain FVRO hearings (s 44A), provides confidentiality protections for assessment and programme reports (ss 10X-10Y), and restricts publication of information likely to reveal a protected person’s whereabouts (s 70).
Mechanically, the Act distributes decision‑making across multiple agents: courts (Magistrates Court, Children’s Court and other courts) make the substantive orders (s 7A); authorised magistrates hear telephone applications (s 17); registrars prepare, serve and register orders and summonses (ss 10, 24, 76); the Commissioner of Police receives police copies and is notified of firearms‑related matters (ss 10, 59, 71); the Minister approves eligibility assessors and behaviour change programmes (s 10P). The Act couples civil relief (restraints) with criminal enforcement (penalties and police powers to investigate, enter, search and seize) and statutory obligations on third parties (for example responsible persons for firearm access, s 71).