Defining Domestic Violence in Protection Order Legislation

Abstract

In Australia, family violence orders have been described as 'the strategic lynchpin in the states' and territories' system-based response to domestic violence'. A domestic violence order or protection order is a court-issued civil order that imposes certain conditions to protect a person from future domestic violence. Depending on the jurisdiction, women who seek help through civil protection order regimes must satisfy a judicial officer that they have experienced domestic violence, or that there is a likelihood or reasonable fear or apprehension of future domestic violence. Consequently, the statutory definition of domestic violence is a fundamental consideration in any such judicial determination.