Victoria simply doesn’t have AVOs
If you’ve searched for information about an AVO and ended up on a Victorian legal website, there’s a good reason for the confusion, Victoria simply doesn’t have AVOs. Apprehended Violence Order is New South Wales terminology, created under NSW’s own legislation, and it has no legal standing or equivalent name in Victoria. This matters more than it might seem. Searching for the wrong term can lead you toward NSW-specific processes, forms, and courts that have nothing to do with your actual situation if you’re dealing with a matter in Victoria.
So what does Victoria actually call it?
Victoria’s equivalent protection is called an intervention order, and it isn’t a single, uniform order the way “AVO” is often treated in casual conversation. Victoria splits protection orders into two distinct types with different laws behind them, a Family Violence Intervention Order, generally shortened to FVIO, and a Personal Safety Intervention Order, shortened to PSIO. Both are intervention orders in the general sense, but they come from separate legislation, use different legal tests, and apply to different kinds of relationships between the people involved.
The relationship between the parties decides which order applies
The single biggest factor determining which order applies is the relationship between the two people involved. An FVIO applies where the parties share a family or domestic relationship, current or former partners, family members, or people who live together in a domestic sense. A PSIO applies where there’s no family or domestic relationship, covering neighbours, colleagues, acquaintances, or even strangers. This distinction isn’t a minor technicality, it determines which Act governs the application, which legal test the court applies, and what happens if the order is later breached.
What counts as family violence for an FVIO?
Family violence, for the purposes of an FVIO, is defined broadly under the Family Violence Protection Act 2008. It includes physical violence, sexual violence, emotional or psychological abuse, economic abuse, and threatening or coercive behaviour that causes a family member to fear for their safety. To make a final FVIO, a magistrate must be satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the respondent has committed family violence against the affected family member and is likely to do so again. The definition is intentionally wide, reflecting how varied controlling and abusive behaviour within a family or intimate relationship can actually look.
PSIOs cover a narrower, differently defined kind of conduct
A PSIO instead requires what the law calls “prohibited behaviour,” a more specific and narrowly defined category than family violence, covering things like stalking, harassment, threats, and conduct causing physical or mental harm. Under section 61 of the Personal Safety Intervention Orders Act 2010, a magistrate can make a final PSIO if satisfied the respondent has engaged in prohibited behaviour and is likely to do so again, or that the behaviour would cause a reasonable person in the affected person’s position to fear for their safety. The legal threshold here is more precisely defined than the equivalent FVIO test, reflecting the different, less intimate nature of the relationships PSIOs are designed to address.
Does police involvement differ between the two?
Yes, and this reflects how seriously family violence is treated as a systemic issue rather than an isolated dispute. Police have a positive duty to apply for an FVIO on a person’s behalf where family violence is involved, and can also issue an immediate family violence safety notice for urgent protection. There’s no equivalent positive duty for police to apply for a PSIO. Practically, this also affects how you apply. An FVIO application can often be lodged online through the Magistrates’ Court, while a private PSIO application generally has to be lodged in person at court.
The breach penalties are not the same
This is one of the most significant practical differences between the two order types. Breaching an FVIO carries a maximum penalty of 240 penalty units or two years imprisonment, but where the breach is committed with intent to cause harm or fear, or happens persistently, twice or more within 28 days, the maximum rises sharply to 600 penalty units or five years imprisonment. A PSIO breach doesn’t have this escalation built in at all, the maximum penalty for breaching a PSIO stays at two years imprisonment regardless of intent or repetition. The law treats repeated or intentional breaches of family violence orders as significantly more serious than equivalent conduct under a PSIO.
Does an intervention order affect firearms licensing?
Yes, and this is another point where the two order types diverge. An FVIO automatically triggers a prohibition on holding a firearms licence for the respondent, reflecting the recognised link between family violence and firearm-related risk. A PSIO doesn’t carry this same automatic firearms consequence. If you’re a respondent to either type of order and hold, or are applying for, a firearms licence, understanding which order you’re actually facing has consequences that go well beyond the conditions written on the order itself.
An order from another state doesn’t just disappear at the border
If you’ve had an AVO, or any interstate protection order, made against you or in your favour in another state, it doesn’t automatically stop applying just because you’ve crossed into Victoria. The National Domestic Violence Order Scheme allows certain interstate family violence orders to be automatically recognised and enforceable in Victoria without needing to apply for a fresh local order. Whether your specific order is covered, and how it interacts with Victoria’s FVIO and PSIO framework, depends on the type of order and the details of the scheme, which is worth checking rather than assuming either way.
What should you do if you’re unsure which order applies to you?
Work out first whether your situation involves a family or domestic relationship, since that alone tells you which Act and which process actually applies to you. Speak with a criminal defence lawyer about whether you’re facing an FVIO or a PSIO, what the practical differences mean for you, and how to respond.
