CHAPTER CONTENTS

Last Updated 14 March 2022click to download a pdf of this chapter

What is Domestic and Family Violence
How to Use the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act
Domestic Violence Order
Types of Protection Orders
Varying (or Changing) and Ending a Domestic Violence Order
Conditions of a Domestic Violence Order
Police Powers to Take a Person Into Custody
An Aggrieved Travels or Moves Interstate
Information Sharing
Domestic and Family Violence – What Happens at Court
Legal Help for Parties in Court
Criminal Law Options
Domestic Violence and the Interface with Family Law
Support for Survivors of Domestic Violence
Domestic Violence and Employment
Domestic Violence and Older People

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic and family violence, there are many ways to respond and be protected legally, and non-legally through assistance from a domestic violence service.  

The Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 (Qld) (DFVP Act) is a way of obtaining a domestic violence protection order, which is an order of a court telling a person using violence to behave or not behave in certain ways. If the person using violence breaches or does not follow the order, then they can be charged by police and dealt with in a criminal court. This option is a popular way to respond to domestic and family violence in Queensland. There are also other criminal responses to domestic and family violence (see Criminal Law Options below).