Case study:
Application for Full No Contact IVO Order

Court:

Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court

Facts:

Our client was listed as the Affected Family Member (‘AFM’) on a Family Violence Intervention Order (‘FVIO’) Application made by Victoria Police. The Respondent to this Application was our client’s husband.

The Husband in this matter had a history of breaching previous FVIOs listing our client as AFM, with criminal proceedings on foot in relation to the breaches. However, there was also a Cross-Application made in this case by the Husband.

The Cross-Application was made against our client in retaliation of Victoria Police’s FVIO Application and alleged that our client sent abusive text messages and attended the Husband’s house committing minor verbal abuse. The Husband listed the 2 children as protected persons on the application and applied to have the children of the parties listed as AFMs on the FVIO as well.

At Court, an Interim Order was made for our client’s Police FVIO Application, but no interim orders were made with respect to the Husband’s Cross-Application. This was due to the existence of a history of the Husband bringing FVIO Applications against our client being withdrawn.

How was the case resolved?

Submissions were made, with the support of Victoria Police, to pursue a 10-year no-contact Order, bearing in mind the severity of the FVIO breaches that have already occurred and the subsequent criminal proceedings that were on foot.

It was also found that the Husband’s Cross-Application had little merit, especially as the allegations of Family Violence were not reported to Police at the time they allegedly occurred, especially in contemplation of how easily Police reports had been made in the past by both parties.

Outcome:

The Honourable Magistrate was prepared to make a full No-Contact Order against the Husband, with the children of the parties listed on the Order for 10 years. However, our client outlined that she wished for the duration of the Order to be reduced to five years, as she felt that was an adequate time-frame to reduce the risk of on-going family violence. Accordingly, a full no-contact FVIO was made against the Husband, lasting five years.

The Cross-Application was negotiated with the Husband, with our client agreeing to a 6-month Undertaking.