Jacoba Brasch,President of the Law Council of Australia, says there are two main avenues to start the process.
"The usual way, either the police will be called by the neighbors or you might call the police, and they will assess the situation and they can take an AVO or a DVO out on your behalf. Or you can go to the court yourself fill out a form or a lot of it can be done electronically, and you can make a private application."
When it comes to making a private application for a domestic violence order, there's a range of evidence that can be provided to support it. Natasha McGrow says it could include photographs of any physical injuries or damage to property.
Natasha McGrow says once an application for an order has been filed, the person it applies to then has an opportunity to attend court and either consent to it or contest it. She says if it's contested, it will go to a full trial.
"This is where both parties will then have to put all of their evidence together, all of their affidavit material and evidence, call witnesses, and, ultimately, the parties get the opportunity to cross examine each other, and then the judge will make a finding at the end of the day. But even then, it still just comes down to 'who is the most in need of protection, and is it necessary and desirable in the circumstances to make the order?' So, most of the time where there's been some findings of DV happening, the judge is going to make that order, anyway."
Natasha McGrow says while domestic violence orders aren't guaranteed to keep people safe from perpetrators, they're still an important tool.
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