Personal Violence Restraining Orders Act 2016

This Act may be cited as the Personal Violence Restraining Orders

Act 2016.

Part 4, Division 5 commences on the day on which the

Administrator's assent to this Act is declared.

The remaining provisions of this Act commence immediately after the commencement of the Local Court (Repeals and Related

Amendments) Act 2016.

In this Act:

child means a person under the age of 18 years.

Court means the Local Court.

defendant, for a personal violence restraining order, means the person against whom the order is in force.

economic abuse, see section 7.

interim personal violence restraining order, see section 19(1).

intimidation, see section 5(1).

personal violence offence, see section 4.

personal violence restraining order, see section 10.

protected person, for a personal violence restraining order, means the person for whose protection the order is in force.

registrar, see section 3 of the Local Court Act

2015.

stalking, see section 6.

Note for section 3

The Interpretation Act 1978 contains definitions and other provisions that may be relevant to this Act.

A personal violence offence is:

an offence against any of the following provisions of the

Criminal Code:

Part V, Division 2;

Part VI, Divisions 3 to 6A;

Part VIA, other than section 208NA;

section 218;

another provision prescribed by regulation; or

an offence against Part V, Division 2 or Part VI, Division 5 of the Criminal Code, as in force before the commencement of Part 2 of the Criminal Justice Legislation Amendment (Sexual Offences)

Act 2023; or

any of the following conduct committed by a person against another person:

conduct causing harm;

damaging property, including the injury to or death of an animal;

intimidation;

stalking;

economic abuse;

attempting or threatening to commit conduct mentioned in subparagraphs (i) to (v).

(1) Intimidation of a person is:

harassment of the person; or

any conduct that causes a reasonable apprehension of:

violence to the person; or

damage to the property of the person, including the injury to or death of an animal that is the person's property; or

any conduct that has the effect of unreasonably controlling the person or causes the person mental harm.

For deciding whether a person's conduct amounts to intimidation, consideration may be given to a pattern of conduct in the person's behaviour.

Examples of harassment for subsection (1)(a)

1 Regular and unwanted contacting of the person, including by mail, phone, text messages, fax, the internet or another form of electronic communication.

2 Giving or sending offensive material to the person.

Example of conduct for subsection (1)(b)(i)

Sexually coercive behaviour.

Stalking, a person, includes engaging in any of the following conduct on at least 2 separate occasions with the intention of causing harm to the person or causing the person to fear harm to the person:

intentionally following the person;

intentionally watching or loitering in the vicinity of, or intentionally approaching, the place where the person lives, works or regularly goes for a social or leisure activity.

Economic abuse, of a person, includes any of the following conduct (or any combination of them):

coercing the person to relinquish control over assets or income;

unreasonably disposing of property (whether owned by the person or owned jointly with the person or someone else) without consent;

unreasonably preventing the person from taking part in decisions over household expenditure or the disposition of joint property;

withholding money reasonably necessary for the maintenance of the person or a child of the person.

Example of coercion for paragraph (a)

Using stand-over tactics to obtain the person's credit card.

Part IIAA of the Criminal Code applies to an offence against this

Act.

Note for section 8

Part IIAA of the Criminal

Code states the general principles of criminal responsibility, establishes general defences, and deals with burden of proof. It also defines, or elaborates on, certain concepts commonly used in the creation of offences.

The object of this Act is to ensure the safety and protection of persons who experience personal violence outside a domestic relationship as defined in the Domestic and Family Violence

Act 2007.

The object of this Act is to be achieved by providing for:

the making of personal violence restraining orders to protect persons from certain violence; and

the enforcement of the orders.

Part 2 Applying for and making orders

Any of the following persons may apply for an order (a personal violence restraining order) for the protection of a person against another person:

the person whose protection is sought under the order;

an adult acting for the person whose protection is sought under the order;

a police officer.

Only one person may be named as the protected person and only one person may be named as the defendant in a personal violence restraining order.

The defendant named in a personal violence restraining order cannot be a child under the age of 15 years.

An application for a personal violence restraining order must be made to the Court in accordance with the rules of the Court.