It is against the law to break the rules of a DVO.
If you do not follow the rules of a DVO, the police might arrest you or charge you with a breach of DVO, which is a crime. If police charge you with breaching a DVO you will go to court where a judge will decide what will happen.
If a judge decides that you broke the rules of a DVO, the judge will decide how to punish you. The judge can send you to jail for up to two years for breaking the rules of a DVO. The judge might give you a different punishment, like a fine or community work.
If you follow the rules of a DVO, information about that DVO does not go on your criminal record. When a court says you are guilty of breaching a DVO, that information will go on your criminal record.
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Who Can Help? (Service Providers)
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| What happens if someone breaks a domestic violence order? |
| Domestic Violence Orders. Information for Defendants
This booklet has information about what might happen if you don’t follow a DVO. |
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This audio explains the word breach in Yolngu Matha. Click here for more recordings like this.
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This poster explains non-violence DVOs:
Click here to view Non-violence DVOThis picture explains non-intox DVO
Click here to view NON-INTOX DVO POSTERHere is a poster that explains full non-contact DVOs
Click here to view Full non-contact DVO posterGlossary: What these words mean
| guilty | When a person is guilty, it means that a judge or jury decided that he broke the law. |
| community work | Community work is one way that a judge might punish a person who breaks the law. Community work might include picking up rubbish, cleaning, or doing gardening.
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| criminal record | A law paper that shows every time a judge has said the defendant was guilty of breaking the law. |
| breach | This means to break a law, an agreement or an order (rule) made by the court. You breach something when you don’t do what it says. |
| defendant | The person who the police say broke the law. In domestic violence orders, this is the person whom the order tells not to be violent. |
| domestic violence order (DVO) | A domestic violence order (DVO) is a law-paper from the police or a judge. A DVO has rules to protect people from domestic violence. A DVO can make rules about what a person can do. For example, a no-contact DVO means no going near, calling, texting, or contacting the person protected by the order. A non-intoxication order means no alcohol or drugs. If someone breaks the rules of a DVO they are doing a crime. When the police make the DVO it only lasts until a judge talks about it in court. The judge decides if the DVO keeps going and what rules it has. |