When Love Hurts: Family Violence Matters in the ACT

Being the Applicant or Respondent in a Family Violence matter can be daunting.  Our team of lawyers regularly appear in the ACT Magistrates Court in relation to family violence matters.  We are also experienced in NSW Apprehended Domestic Violence matters.

If you have a family violence matter in any other Australian jurisdiction, we can refer you to one of our professional colleagues. This article focuses on family violence matters in the ACT.

Knowing how the process works and how one of our lawyers can assist you can remove the stress and uncertainty from your family violence matter.

 ACT

Whether you are the Applicant or the Respondent, it is important to know your options when navigating the legal process for dealing with family violence matters.  Here we talk about the process for Applicants. If you are a respondent, we recommend you read our blog: family-violence-matters-youve-been-served.

 Applicant

If you are the Applicant, you can either make an application in your own right or attend your nearest police station.  

If you are in fear of immediate physical harm or other threat, GPG Lawyers always recommends that you immediately seek the help of the police, who may criminally charge the offender with family violence related charges, or they may file an application for a Family Violence Order in the ACT Magistrates Court on your behalf. 

If the police file for a Family Violence Order on your behalf, they will be responsible for your matter and will assist you throughout the Court process. 

The police may also tell you to go to the ACT Magistrates Court and file an application yourself.  At this point, we would recommend that you contact GPG or come and see us as our office is conveniently located directly opposite the Court.  Many clients have come directly to our office and we are happy to help.

GPG will help you prepare your application for interim (‘in the meantime’ orders) and final orders and advise on how to appropriately restrict the respondent so that you are protected.  You will need to consider whether you want to stop the respondent coming within a certain distance of you; your home; your place of work or other places you regularly attend.  If you have children, restrictions on seeing the children or attending school may also be appropriate, but this will be subject to any family law orders you have in place.

After completing your application and it is filed at Court, you will be asked to attend court before a Registrar or a Magistrate and state that the information contained in the application for orders is true.  The court will then make the order if it considers that you are in fear and need protection under the Family Violence Act 2016 until the matter can be heard on a final basis.

You will be given a date to come back to Court for a conference with a Registrar or Deputy Registrar. The respondent will also be served with the interim orders and asked to return to court for a conference on the same day.

You will be placed in separate rooms away from the respondent, a Deputy Registrar will move between you both.  We would highly recommend that you have a lawyer representing you at this time.

There are two options which are available to you to resolve the matter without the need for a Court hearing.

Firstly, you may be asked to enter into undertakings in terms which are similar to what is in the interim Family Violence Order.  Undertakings are not a Court Order but a way for the parties to agree to abide by the conditions of an order going forward for a period of possibly 12-24 months.  If the undertakings are breached by one party, then that breach can be used as evidence for the basis of another application to the Court for a Family Violence Order.

Secondly, you may be presented with an offer to consent to orders on a ‘without admissions’ basis.  These orders if breached can form the basis of a criminal charge which is serious.  The consent orders mean that the matter will not proceed to a final hearing and the allegations which have been made in the application are not found to be fact by a court. 

A benefit of Family Violence Orders being settled by consent is that the Court process ends and the stress and cost associated with a final hearing is avoided.

There is an incentive for the respondent to agree to orders on a consent basis, particularly if they are employed in a job needing a security clearance or other positive reporting requirements to their employer.

If there is no agreement to undertakings or consent orders, the matter will then be adjourned to a pre-conference hearing date usually a couple of months away.  At the pre-conference hearing, the Court will ask how long the matter will take, how many witnesses will be needed and will list the matter for a final hearing usually a couple of months thereafter. 

Whether you consider the matter should be settled by undertakings or consent orders will depend on factors such as the seriousness of the alleged violence and whether the respondent is repeating their behaviour.

 If you and the respondent will also have to settle property and children issues following the end of the relationship, GPG is able to continue to acting for you on family law issues. 

 See also our blog Family Violence: An Epidemic in a Pandemic — GPG Lawyers

 GPG also encourages anyone who is a victim of family violence or knows someone who is to:

1.      Call the police on 000 if there is an immediate risk of physical harm or other threat to safety;

2.      Contact the ACT Domestic Violence Crisis Service Crisis Intervention line which is available 24/7 on 02 6280 0900;

3.      Seek legal advice from one of our experienced lawyers;

4.      Confide in a trusted friend or colleague. You may wish to think creatively and come up with a code word or symbol that can be sent as a text symbolising that you are in need of urgent assistance in circumstances where you cannot otherwise make a call yourself;

5.      Have an exit plan. Think about where you will go if you need to leave your home and what important thing, including important documents you may need to take.

If you or someone you know is the victim of family violence, we can help. Call our experienced team on (02) 6185 7007, make a booking online or if urgent, drop into our office at Level 7/15 London Circuit, Canberra (directly opposite the ACT Magistrates Court and City Police Station).