Hi there. It sounds like you are in a difficult position. In NSW, an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) is an order made by a court that is intended to protect a person from another person who causes the first person to fear for their safety. There are two types of AVOs – one for domestic violence and one for personal violence.

If someone has applied for an AVO against you, you will need to attend court to respond to the application (this is called a ‘mention’). At the mention, you have the opportunity to respond to the application. You can agree or disagree with the application being made. If you want to challenge the application for an AVO, the court will ask you to file a statement in defence of the application. The matter will then be listed for a future hearing date where you can present evidence in support of your case. At the end of this hearing, the court will make a decision whether to impose a final AVO.

For more information about AVOs and how to defend them, you can visit the NSW LawAccess website run by the Department of Justice (www.lawaccess.nsw.gov.au).

In your situation, you will also need to take into account any formal parenting orders that have previously been made by a court. A parenting order dictates the legal parenting arrangements (i.e. custody and visitation hours) for children of separated or divorced couples. If you have parenting orders in place, an AVO can be made to accommodate the terms of the parenting orders. Generally, if there is a contradiction between a parenting order and an AVO, the parenting order must be followed, but there are some exceptions to this rule.

If you have not previously obtained a formal parenting order from a court, you can apply for one if you are dissatisfied with the current parenting arrangements.