AVO, IVO, DVO: protection orders in each Australian state explained

If you have searched “AVO vs IVO” or “restraining order vs AVO”, you are not alone. Australia has no single protection order. Each state and territory has its own law, its own court process and its own name for what is, broadly, the same thing: a court order that limits what one person can do towards another.

This guide explains the names state by state, how orders work across borders, what the conditions usually say about contact, and how to communicate safely when some contact is allowed. It is general information, not legal advice. Your own order is what counts.

Why the names differ between states

In Australia, most criminal law and policing belong to the states and territories. Each one has passed its own protection order laws, at different times, so each chose its own terms. That is why an order in Sydney is an AVO, in Melbourne an intervention order, and in Brisbane a DVO.

The shape is similar everywhere. Most jurisdictions have:

• A family or domestic order for people who are or were partners, family members or in a similar close relationship.
• A personal order for people with no such relationship, such as a neighbour, a colleague or an acquaintance.

“Restraining order” is the general term many people use. In Australia it is the official name only in Western Australia and the Northern Territory’s personal order. “IVO” is an everyday shorthand for a Victorian intervention order, not a legal title.

In the US, the equivalent is a protective order, restraining order or order of protection, and the names and rules vary by state. Our US guide explains the basics.

Protection orders state by state

Names below are current as of October 2026. In every state and territory you can also contact police, who can apply for an order for you, and in several places police can make short-term orders themselves.

So “AVO vs DVO” or “AVO vs IVO” is mostly a question of where you live. A Queensland DVO and a NSW ADVO do the same job under different laws.

Orders across state borders: the national scheme

A national scheme means most domestic violence orders made anywhere in Australia are automatically recognised and enforceable in every state and territory. You do not need to register it when you move or travel, and local police enforce its conditions wherever it was made.

Some older orders are not covered automatically, but can be declared nationally recognised. You apply to a local court, and it does not have to be one in the state that made the order. If you are not travelling interstate and live where the order was made, the Attorney-General’s Department says a declaration is not needed.

The scheme covers family and domestic violence orders. Personal orders between people with no domestic relationship, such as a Tasmanian restraint order, may need to be registered in the new state to be enforced there. Ask the court registry or a lawyer.

What the conditions usually look like

Every order lists conditions the respondent (the person the order is against) must follow. Common ones say the respondent must not:

• assault, threaten, harass, intimidate or stalk the protected person;
• damage their property;
• approach them, or go within a set distance of their home or workplace;
• contact them in any way.

No-contact conditions often come with exceptions. Typical examples are contact through a lawyer, contact about children as allowed by a parenting order or a written parenting plan, contact while attending family dispute resolution or counselling, or contact through a named third party. Some orders allow written contact only, about children only.

Two orders made in similar situations can say quite different things. Read every condition in your own order, including the fine print about exceptions, and do not rely on a summary of what orders “usually” say, including this one.

What counts as contact

Where an order restricts contact, it usually means any contact, by any means. That generally includes:

• phone calls, texts and voicemails;
• emails and letters;
• social media messages, comments, tags and posts aimed at the person;
• messaging apps and shared accounts;
• messages passed on through friends, family, children or anyone else.

A message does not become acceptable because it is polite, because it was sent through someone else, or because the protected person replied first. Generally, the conditions still apply to the respondent even if the other person gets in touch. Our guide to communicating when there is an AVO or intervention order goes into these situations in detail.

What happens if an order is breached

Breaching a protection order is a criminal offence in every state and territory. Police can charge the respondent, and penalties can include fines and imprisonment.

If you are the protected person and an order is breached, you can report it to police. Keep the evidence: save texts, emails, screenshots of social media and voicemails, and note the date, time and what happened. Our guide to keeping a record of harassing messages explains how, and what to do about threatening texts from an ex covers the next steps.

Patterns of messages that monitor, control or isolate someone can matter too, even when each one looks small on its own. See coercive control in messages for the signs.

Communicating safely when some contact is allowed

If your order permits limited contact, usually about children, these habits help keep it inside the conditions:

• Use only the channel the order allows. If it says through lawyers, or in writing, stick to that.
• Stay on the permitted topic. If the exception is about the children, keep every message about the children.
• Keep it short and factual. Times, dates, school, health, handovers. The BIFF method is a useful model.
• Prefer writing to calls. Written messages leave a clear record of what both people said.
• Keep everything. Do not delete messages, even ones you would rather not see again.
• Ask before you assume. If you are unsure whether a message is allowed, it may be safer to hold it until a lawyer or a free legal service has looked at your order.

Where FenceChat fits, and where it does not

FenceChat is never a way to contact a protected person, and it is not a way around any condition of an order. If your order says no contact, there is no permitted channel, FenceChat included.

FenceChat may fit only where an order permits some contact, for example written contact about children, and only if a FenceChat address or number is consistent with the channel your order allows. Check your order first and ask your lawyer if it is unclear. Where it fits, it means the person receiving messages reads the practical details without the hostility, and every original is kept.

FenceChat gives you a separate email address and, on the Protected and Legal plans, a separate mobile number to give the other person instead of your own. Their messages are filtered before they reach you: the practical information comes through and hostile language is filtered out. The untouched original is kept in your Archive, timestamped, in case you ever need it. They do not need an app or an account, and you never have to share your real number or address.

Legal advice and support

Free and low-cost legal help is available for anyone, whichever side of an order you are on:

• Legal Aid in your state or territory. Find yours through National Legal Aid.
• Community legal centres, which give free advice across Australia. Find one through Community Legal Centres Australia.
• Women’s Legal Services in each state, for women.
• Court registry staff can explain the forms and process, though they cannot give legal advice.

For support with family, domestic or sexual violence, anyone can call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732. In an emergency, call 000 in Australia or 911 in the US.

In the United States, the equivalent is usually called a protective order, restraining order or order of protection, and the rules vary by state. Our US guide explains the basics, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline is on 1-800-799-7233 (text START to 88788).

See Where to get help for services in Australia, the US and the UK.