What to Expect When You’re Charged with Domestic Violence in NSW

Being charged with a domestic violence offence in NSW is overwhelming. Whether you have been arrested, served with a Court Attendance Notice, or handed an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO), you are likely dealing with fear, confusion, and a flood of urgent questions about what happens next.

You are not alone. In 2024, NSW Police recorded over 100,000 domestic violence related crimes, according to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. Approximately 2,500 reports of domestic violence are made to police in NSW every month. Many of the people behind those numbers are ordinary individuals who never expected to find themselves facing a criminal charge.

This guide explains what to expect at each stage of the process, from the moment police attend an incident through to your court date and beyond. It is designed to give you clarity, not alarm, so you can take the right steps early and protect your future.

How Do Domestic Violence Charges Work in NSW?

There Is No Single “Domestic Violence” Offence

One of the most common misunderstandings is that “domestic violence” is a specific criminal offence in NSW. It is not. Instead, domestic violence is a label applied to existing criminal offences when they occur within a domestic relationship. That relationship can include current or former partners, family members, housemates, or carers.

So rather than being charged with “domestic violence,” you might be charged with common assault, intimidation, malicious damage to property, stalking, or using a carriage service to menace or harass. When the court is satisfied the offence occurred in a domestic context, it will be recorded as a domestic violence offence.

What Behaviours Can Lead to a Domestic Violence Charge?

Many people are surprised to learn that a domestic violence charge does not require physical contact. While assaults, pushes, and strikes are common allegations, charges frequently arise from conduct that people do not immediately recognise as criminal.

For example, during the breakdown of a relationship, a heated argument where one person says aggressive or threatening things can amount to intimidation. Grabbing your partner’s phone and throwing it can be charged as malicious damage to property, even if you paid for it and gave it to them as a gift. Calling or messaging someone 20 to 30 times in one night can result in charges of using a carriage service (a phone) to menace, harass, or offend.

As one of our solicitors puts it, people are often very poor at understanding the lawfulness of their behaviour in emotionally heightened states. If you are not a lawyer working in this space, the thought that your conduct could become a criminal matter simply does not cross your mind in the heat of the moment.

Domestic violence charges can also extend to non‐physical patterns of behaviour. Since 1 July 2024, NSW has recognised coercive control as a standalone criminal offence, carrying a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment.

What Happens When Police Attend a Domestic Incident?

The Investigation and Body Worn Video Evidence

When police attend a domestic incident, they will typically be wearing body worn video cameras. Whether the camera is actively recording is at the officer’s discretion, but in most cases it will be on. Any conversations you have with police during this time may be captured on that footage.

This matters because in the stress and emotion of the moment, people often say things that do not accurately reflect what happened, or that do not assist their position. That footage can later be used as evidence. It is one of the reasons why speaking with a lawyer before answering any questions is so important.

Police are under increasing pressure to take action on all domestic violence matters. Due to heightened media and political scrutiny, officers will often charge even relatively minor incidents. Their concern about being criticised for not doing enough means the threshold for laying charges has shifted significantly. The bare minimum outcome for any domestic incident is an AVO. On top of that, criminal charges may be laid, and both proceedings will run through the court together.

Why You Should Contact a Lawyer Before Saying Anything

If police come to investigate, you should speak with a criminal defence lawyer as soon as possible, ideally before providing any statement or answering questions beyond your name and address. If you are arrested and taken to the police station, contact a lawyer straight away (if you have not already).

At the very latest, you should seek legal advice the moment you receive your Court Attendance Notice or AVO paperwork. Understanding your rights when charged with a criminal offence in NSW is essential to protecting your interests from the outset.

“In the heat of the moment, people can say things that are either not quite right or don’t quite assist them, or are not an accurate reflection of what’s just happened, based on a variety of reasons. And that can be legally hurtful sometimes,” says Matthew Ward, solicitor at Morrisons. “People are really bad at understanding their behaviour and its lawfulness or unlawfulness in emotionally heightened states. If you’re not a lawyer dealing in that sort of work, you just don’t think about that.”

What Is an ADVO and Will I Automatically Get One?

If you are charged with a domestic violence offence, you will almost certainly be served with an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO). In many cases, police will issue an AVO even when no criminal charges are laid. It is the default protective measure for any domestic incident.

The Difference Between ADVOs and APVOs

AVO is the general term that covers two types of orders. An ADVO (Apprehended Domestic Violence Order) applies where there is a domestic relationship between the parties. An APVO (Apprehended Personal Violence Order) covers non‐domestic relationships, such as disputes between neighbours or colleagues. For a comprehensive breakdown, see our guide on how AVOs work in NSW.

What Conditions Can Be Placed on an ADVO?

Every ADVO in NSW includes a mandatory condition (referred to as Condition 1) which states that you must not assault, threaten, stalk, harass, or intimidate the protected person, or intentionally damage their property or harm their animals. This condition appears on every AVO application in the state.

Beyond that mandatory condition, the court can impose a range of additional conditions depending on the circumstances. These include:

Condition 2: No contact with the protected person by any means, unless through a lawyer.

Condition 3: You must not approach the protected person’s school, childcare, or other specified places.

Condition 4: Not approach or be in the company of the protected person within 12 hours of consuming drugs or alcohol. This means that even a glass of wine at dinner together could constitute a breach.

Condition 5: You can’t try to find the protected person except as ordered by a court (this is rarely applied).

Condition 6: Contact is not permitted except through a lawyer, to attend court ordered mediation, as ordered by a court about contact with children, or as agreed in writing between parents regarding contact with children. This is the condition that allows some flexibility when children are involved.

Condition 7: You can’t live with the protected person, or at a particular address.

Condition 8: You can’t go into the protected person’s home, workplace, or other specified locations.

Condition 9: You must not go within a specified distance (e.g. 100, 200, or 500 metres) of the protected person’s home, workplace, or other listed addresses.

Condition 10: You must not possess any firearms or weapons.

Police often take a firm line on the conditions they seek, and those conditions can be difficult to change quickly, even when the protected person agrees to a variation. It is the police application, and they will form their own view about what restrictions are appropriate to be included on the AVO.

How Long Does an ADVO Last?

The standard final ADVO lasts for two years from the date the order is made (not the date of your first court appearance or the original application). Orders can be longer or shorter depending on the circumstances. It is also possible to apply to vary the conditions of a final ADVO, or in some cases, to have it revoked entirely if circumstances change significantly.

What Happens If I Want to Reconcile with My Partner?

This is one of the most common and emotionally difficult aspects of a domestic violence charge. Relationships break down, arguments happen, police are called, charges are laid, and then the couple wants to put things back together. But the legal process does not simply stop because you have reconciled.

Why Contact Can Still Be a Breach, Even If They Agree

If your ADVO includes a no‐contact condition and your partner messages you, you are not committing an offence by receiving that message. But if you reply, even in the friendliest terms, that is a breach of your ADVO. Each response could technically be a separate offence. This catches many people off guard.

Common scenarios include the other party calling to ask for help with the children, messaging to sort out logistics, or simply wanting to talk. Unless the ADVO conditions have been formally changed, responding to any of those communications puts you at risk of being charged with contravening an AVO, which carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment.

It is also critical that nothing is done to suggest, persuade, or convince the complainant not to attend court. That is a serious criminal offence in its own right, including perverting the course of justice and conduct intended to influence a witness.

Matthew Ward sees this play out regularly. 

“The common scenario is ‘but she’s messaged me, but she’s called me, but she wants help with the kids.’ Unless that AVO condition is changed, that is something that people will get charged for breach with all the time. Sometimes hundreds of breaches,” he says. “There wouldn’t be a day that goes by in New South Wales where I would say hundreds or thousands of people wouldn’t be breaching AVOs.”

How to Vary ADVO Conditions to Allow Contact

If you and the other party want to resume contact, the proper course is to apply to vary the ADVO conditions through the court. This can often be done within a few days to a week. If a family lawyer has helped you put together a written parenting plan that both parties agree on, that plan can be used to support a variation application, particularly to remove a no contact condition, or to allow contact for co‐parenting purposes.

What Should I Expect at Court?

Your First Court Date

If you are arrested and not granted bail by the Police, you will be brought before the court either the same day or the following day. If you are not arrested or are granted bail by the Police, you will receive a Court Attendance Notice with a date, usually within a few weeks.

Your first appearance is known as a mention. At this stage, the Magistrate will consider bail (if not already granted) and address any provisional ADVO in place. You will be asked whether you plead guilty or not guilty. If you have not yet obtained legal advice, you should request an adjournment to speak with a lawyer before entering any plea.

How Long Do Domestic Violence Cases Take?

Timelines vary depending on the complexity of the matter and your plea.

For an ADVO alone: if you agree to the order, it can be finalised on your first court date. If you contest it, a hearing in the Wollongong Local Court is typically scheduled three to four months out.

For criminal charges: a guilty plea may be finalised on the day or shortly after. A contested hearing is generally listed three to five months from your first appearance.

For more serious matters involving serious assaults, kidnapping, or other indictable offences, expect a significantly longer timeline of 6 to 18 months before the matter may reach a conclusion.

For a detailed look at possible penalties and whether imprisonment is likely for your circumstances, see our article on sentencing outcomes for first-time domestic violence offenders.

Do I Need a Family Lawyer as Well as a Criminal Lawyer?

Where Criminal Law Ends and Family Law Begins

The criminal court is focused on the specific incident or incidents that led to your charge. It assesses whether an offence occurred and, if so, what the appropriate sentence should be. It will also determine whether a final ADVO should be made.

What the criminal court cannot do is make decisions about who lives in which house, who gets what property, or who sees the children on which days. They can vary an AVO to potentially facilitate this, but these issues fall within the jurisdiction of family law and require a family lawyer.

This is a distinction that many people do not understand when they are first charged. Being a lawyer does not mean you can handle everything. Criminal law and family law are separate streams, and 99% of the time, you need both working in parallel to get the best outcome.

How Morrisons Works with Family Lawyers to Protect Your Access to Children

One of the most distressing aspects of a domestic violence charge is the impact on contact with your children. If your children are named on the ADVO, you may be prohibited from seeing or communicating with them until the conditions are varied.

Morrisons works closely with family law firms to coordinate your defence. If a family lawyer can help put together a parenting plan that both parties agree to, we can take that plan to the court and apply to vary the ADVO conditions, often quite quickly. This coordination between criminal and family legal teams is critical to achieving the best outcome for you and your children.

“It’s super important those two things work together,” says Matthew Ward. “You might have an AVO that prohibits contact with the children. But if the family lawyers can organise or put together a family plan that everyone agrees on, we can then go to court with that and vary the AVO quite easily because everyone has agreed. It’s really critical for clients to understand the difference, who can help with what, because sometimes they assume that if you’re a lawyer, you can do all of those things.”

What Steps Should You Take After Being Charged?

Get Legal Advice Immediately

The earlier you engage a criminal defence lawyer, the more options you have. Early legal advice shapes everything from your bail conditions to the evidence strategy and the approach to your ADVO. Do not wait until your court date.

Preserve Evidence: Do Not Delete Messages

In the aftermath of a domestic incident, the instinct to block, delete, and remove every trace of the other person is completely understandable. But from an evidentiary standpoint, it can be deeply counterproductive.

Messages, call logs, screenshots of social media conversations, photos, and videos can all provide critical context about the relationship, the events leading up to the incident, and the state of mind of both parties. What someone said or wrote at the time, in their own words, can be powerful evidence in your defence. Screenshot anything sent on platforms like Snapchat or WhatsApp before you take any steps to distance yourself digitally.

Address Underlying Issues Proactively

If the conduct that led to the charge was connected to alcohol, drugs, mental health challenges, or anger, taking steps to address those issues before your court date is important. Enrolling in counselling, attending a men’s behaviour change program, or seeking treatment for substance use demonstrates to the court that you are taking responsibility and actively working to reduce your risk of reoffending and address factors that are related to the offending conduct.

Courts weigh these efforts when determining your sentence. They also matter for bail applications and ADVO variation requests.

Get Your Free Consultation Today

If you have been charged with a domestic violence offence in NSW, do not wait. The decisions you make in the first few days can significantly affect the outcome of your case, your ADVO conditions, and your ability to see your children.

Morrisons has represented thousands of clients across the full spectrum of domestic violence matters, from less serious charges through to the most complex cases. We understand that these situations are not just legal problems; they are deeply personal. Our team provides clear, practical advice to help you navigate the process and protect what matters most.

Contact Morrisons today for a free initial consultation. We are available 24/7, with offices in Wollongong and Campbelltown.