Personal Safety Intervention Orders in Victoria

The two intervention-order schemes

Victoria has two separate intervention-order regimes, and choosing the correct statutory pathway matters. A Family Violence Intervention Order is made under the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) where the parties are family members within that Act's broad definition. A PSIO is available only where they are not: section 61(1)(b) of the PSIO Act makes that an express element of a final order.

The two regimes are distinct, but it is wrong to say they do not overlap. The PSIO Act contains a set of interaction provisions:

• Section 62 — the court must not make a final PSIO where an existing family violence intervention order, or a non-local DVO that is a recognised DVO, covers the affected person and the respondent in either direction.
• Section 36 — a materially similar restriction applies to interim orders, with a narrow statutory exception discussed under interim orders below.
• Section 133 — related PSIO and family violence applications may be heard together.
• Section 134 — where a PSIO and an applicable family violence intervention order or recognised DVO are inconsistent, the family violence order prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.
• Part 8 generally — contains further rules about concurrent and related proceedings and about transferring matters between the schemes.

Relationship classification is a legal question, not a matter of labels. The family violence definition of family member includes people who are, or have been, in an intimate personal relationship, and cohabitation is not required. Flatmates, carers, relatives by marriage, and people whose relationship has changed character over time can all be difficult to classify. A misclassified application can be refused, redirected or struck out, leaving an applicant unprotected in the meantime. If the relationship is at all borderline, take advice before filing and read our guide to family violence intervention orders alongside this one.

Statutory tests and definitions

The Act draws a deliberate distinction between two grounds: prohibited behaviour and stalking. They are defined separately and each is an independent basis for an order.

Prohibited behaviour is defined in section 5 as:

• assault;
• sexual assault;
• harassment — under section 7, a course of conduct that is demeaning, derogatory or intimidating, which can be carried out through a third person;
• property damage or interference — under section 8, repeated intentional damage or destruction, substantial interference (including withholding another person's property), or threats to do any of those things; and
• making a serious threat — under section 9, a threat to kill or to inflict serious injury within the meaning of sections 20 and 21 of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic).

Stalking is a statutory course-of-conduct concept, defined separately in section 10 and substantially restructured by the Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Stalking and Other Matters) Act 2026 (Vic), which commenced for this purpose on 26 April 2026. Three elements have to come together. First, the respondent must engage in a course of conduct: section 10(2) requires conduct on more than one occasion, or a protracted course of conduct with continuity of purpose. Second, the conduct must be of a listed kind — following a person, contacting them by any means including electronically, publishing statements or material relating to or purporting to relate to them, causing an unauthorised computer function, tracing their electronic communications or internet use, loitering near their home or workplace, interfering with their property, harming an animal, using abusive or offensive words, or keeping them under surveillance, along with other acts that could reasonably be expected to cause physical or mental harm, including self-harm, or to arouse apprehension or fear. Third, there is a mental element: the respondent must have intended the specified result, or believed it would probably occur, or ought to have understood that it would probably occur. Under the transitional provision in section 203, the amended section 10 applies to the making of an order on or after 26 April 2026, irrespective of when the application was made.

That structure matters. A single unpleasant exchange, an isolated rude message, or a neighbour who is simply difficult will not ordinarily be stalking. Equally, harassment under section 7 also requires a course of conduct. Where the complaint is a one-off, the realistic question is whether it is an assault, a serious threat, or property damage or interference, and whether it is likely to recur.

The final-order test. Under section 61(1) the court may make a final order if satisfied on the balance of probabilities that either the respondent has committed prohibited behaviour against the affected person, is likely to continue or repeat it, and the behaviour would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety; or that the respondent has stalked the affected person and is likely to continue or repeat the stalking. In addition, the parties must not be family members, and it must be appropriate in all the circumstances to make the order. Section 61(2) allows the court, in assessing appropriateness, to consider a child respondent's ability to understand and comply with an order having regard to age and maturity, and the same question for a respondent the court is satisfied has a cognitive impairment.

The interim-order test is different. Section 35 asks whether the order is necessary pending a final decision to ensure the affected person's safety or to preserve their property, and whether making it is appropriate. It does not require the court to be satisfied of the section 61 grounds. An interim order is therefore not a preview of the final result.

Exclusions. Section 61(4) provides that the court must not make a final order if satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the respondent engaged in the conduct without malice in the normal course of a lawful business, trade, profession or enterprise — expressly including a business whose principal business is publishing or arranging the publication of news or current affairs material — or for the purpose of an industrial dispute, or for the purpose of engaging in political activities or discussion or communicating about public affairs. The absence of malice is part of the exclusion, not an optional extra: a debt collector, journalist, union official or campaigner who pursues a person maliciously cannot rely on it. Section 11 separately excludes conduct by people performing official duties such as criminal law enforcement, administering an Act, enforcing pecuniary penalties, executing warrants and protecting public revenue.

Child respondents. Section 18 provides that where an application is made against a child who is under 12 years of age on the date the application is made, the court must not make an order, and an order made has no effect. The minimum age was raised from 10 to 12 by the Youth Justice Act 2024 (Vic), whose relevant provisions commenced on 30 September 2025. Transitional sections 200 to 202 set aside orders then in force against respondents who were 10 or 11 when the application was made, dealt with applications not finally determined, and gave the court power to resolve transitional difficulties.

Online conduct and conduct across borders

Modern PSIO disputes are frequently conducted by message, post and account rather than in person, and the parties are often in different places. The Act addresses that directly. Sections 35(5) and 61(5) allow the court to make an interim or final order whether or not:

• some or all of the conduct occurred outside Victoria, so long as the affected person was in Victoria at the time it occurred; or
• the affected person was outside Victoria at the time, so long as the conduct occurred in Victoria.

Applied to online conduct, that means abusive messages sent from interstate to a person in Melbourne, or an impersonation account operated from Victoria targeting someone in Sydney, can fall within the Act. It does not mean that every online dispute creates a Victorian proceeding. The statutory elements still have to be proved, including the course-of-conduct and future-risk requirements. Practically, an order is only useful if the respondent can be identified, served and realistically held to the conditions, which is why anonymous accounts often call for a police report and platform reporting rather than, or as well as, an application.

Who may apply, and which court

Section 15 sets out who may bring an application:

• the affected person;
• another person, if the affected person is an adult, with the affected person's written consent;
• for a child — a parent, or another person with a parent's written consent or with leave of the court, or the child themselves with leave if they are 14 or older;
• a guardian of the affected person, or another person with leave of the court; and
• a police officer.

Where leave is needed, section 16 requires the court to grant it if that is in the affected person's best interests, and prevents leave being granted to a child applicant unless the child understands the nature and consequences of a PSIO.

Police applications. Police may apply where they are concerned for a person's safety, and section 63 allows an order to be made without the affected person's consent — but only with the limited conditions in section 67(2)(a), (b), (f), (g) and (h), unless the affected person is a child with no adult applicant, or an adult or guardian consents, or the affected person has a cognitive impairment. Police are not obliged to apply, or to seek a variation, simply because they are asked. Police may also seek urgent protection using the telephone, fax or other electronic route contemplated by sections 13(3) and 41, which is a different process from an ordinary applicant filing at court.

Which court. Where the affected person, protected person or respondent is a child, section 103 gives both the Family Division of the Children's Court and the Magistrates' Court jurisdiction, but provides that if the respondent is a child the matter should, if practicable, be dealt with by the Children's Court. Section 105 allows either court to transfer a proceeding to the other. Otherwise the matter is dealt with in the Magistrates' Court, and an application is filed at a proper venue under section 12.

Applying, screening and the first listing

An application must comply with section 13: it must include the information prescribed by the rules, and be made on oath or by affirmation or affidavit, or — for a non-police applicant — by a declaration of truth. A declaration of truth must state the applicant's full name and date of birth and acknowledge that the content is true and correct and that knowingly making a false declaration is an offence; it does not need to be witnessed. Knowingly making a false declaration of truth is an offence under section 110A carrying up to 600 penalty units or five years imprisonment.

How to lodge. Section 13(3) permits an application to be made by telephone, fax or other electronic communication unless the rules of court otherwise provide, and that provision is what enables urgent out-of-hours police applications. It is not a general filing channel for applicants. The current guidance of the Magistrates' Court of Victoria is to complete the application form together with either the declaration of truth included in the form or an affidavit, and to give it to your local court by email or in person. If you use the declaration of truth you will need to attend court, in person or online, to give evidence about why you need an order; if you file an affidavit the application may be processed in your absence and considered for an interim order, although you may still be asked to attend. Check the current forms and lodgement details for your venue before filing, because court practice changes more often than the legislation does.

Screening. Section 16A requires a registrar to refuse to accept an application for filing where satisfied that it is frivolous, vexatious, without substance, made in bad faith, has no reasonable prospect of success or is an abuse of process, or that the matter would be more appropriately dealt with by mediation. The registrar must consider whether the matter has been assessed for or attempted at mediation, whether a report has been made to police, and whether the matter is inappropriate for mediation having regard to the Attorney-General's guidelines. The screen does not apply to police applications, or to applications to vary, revoke or extend an order. If an application is refused, the person may apply to the Magistrates' Court, which may direct the registrar to accept it.

The first listing and what follows. The first return date is a mention. At a mention the court may make an interim order, give a mediation direction, adjourn, order further and better particulars of the allegations, strike out or refuse the application, or — if the matter is resolved by consent or non-opposition under section 64, or the respondent has been served and does not attend — make a final order. Section 44 prevents the court hearing a contested application on a mention date unless all parties have had an opportunity to obtain legal advice and representation, all parties consent to it being heard, and it is fair and just to all parties. A contested matter is otherwise adjourned, usually through a directions hearing, to a contested hearing listed for a specific day and duration at which witnesses give evidence. An applicant may withdraw by filing an application to withdraw, to be served by the registrar, or by making an oral application in court.

Service

It is not correct that every document under the Act must be served personally. The position is more structured.

• Who arranges service. The registrar serves the application on the respondent and, where the applicant is not the affected person, on the affected person or their parent or guardian (section 19). Orders are served under section 174, with copies also provided to the Chief Commissioner of Police and the police station nearest the protected person's home. In practice the court registry sends the documents to police, who serve the respondent.
• The default where service is required. Section 176 makes personal service the default method where a document is required to be served, but expressly allows the court to order service by another means. Section 179 permits a person to cause service to be effected by another person.
• Substituted service. Where personal service is not reasonably practicable, the court may order substituted or alternative service — for example by post, email or another means calculated to bring the document to the respondent's attention.
• Proof of service. Sections 177 to 180 deal with proof, including certificates of service. Proof matters because section 100 only makes contravention an offence once the respondent has been served with a copy of the order or has had it explained under section 40 or section 76. An interim order takes practical effect against the respondent when it is served.

Section 21 also allows the court to issue a warrant for an adult respondent where that is necessary to ensure safety, preserve property or secure attendance at a mention date. An applicant should not attempt to serve the respondent personally where the court's guidance is that police or the registrar will do it, and should never treat service as a reason to make contact contrary to an order. If you need to know whether service has occurred, contact the court where the application was made or the police station handling it.

Mediation and undertakings

Because many PSIO disputes are neighbourhood or community disputes rather than safety emergencies, the Act builds in a diversion to mediation, delivered through the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria.

Under section 26 the court may, at a mention or hearing, direct the parties to attend a mediation assessment, or to attend mediation, or to attend an assessment and then mediation if the matter is assessed as suitable. It must not direct mediation itself under section 26(1)(b) unless it has received a mediation assessment certificate specifying that the matter is suitable. A police applicant is not bound by a direction, and the court may exclude an applicant who is not the affected person. The court may adjourn to allow the process to occur, and where an existing order would prevent mediation, section 27 requires the court to vary the conditions so that it can take place.

It is inaccurate to describe the process as simply voluntary, because a direction can be made. The correct distinction is between coercive enforcement and consequences. Section 32 provides that there is no offence and no contempt for failing to attend an assessment or mediation. But under section 33 the court may take the certificates, and any reasons given for non-attendance, into account when deciding whether to make, vary or revoke an order. A mediator who forms the view that a matter is no longer suitable must terminate the mediation and issue a certificate saying so (section 31).

Undertakings. Some matters resolve by the respondent offering a written undertaking about their future conduct. Victoria Legal Aid's guidance records that a respondent may offer an undertaking, but the applicant must agree to it. An undertaking is not an order under the Act. It is not made by the court under section 61 or 64, it is not registered with police, and breaching it is not the criminal offence created by section 100 — the practical consequence is that the applicant can return to court and press for an order. It is also different from consent without admissions, which produces a fully enforceable order, and from a dismissal after a contested hearing, which involves findings. An undertaking may be a sensible outcome in a low-risk dispute between people who will have to continue living or working near each other. It is not appropriate, or available, in every case, and it should not be offered or accepted without advice where there is a real safety risk.

Interim orders

An interim order provides protection while the application works its way to a final hearing. Under section 35 the court may make one where it is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the order is necessary pending a final decision to ensure the affected person's safety or to preserve their property, and that making it is appropriate in all the circumstances. It may also make an interim order where the parties consent or do not oppose it, without making those findings. Section 37 allows an interim order to be made whether or not the respondent has been served and whether or not the respondent is present, which is what makes urgent, ex parte protection possible.

Section 38 requires oral evidence or an affidavit, subject to the limited waiver available for certified police applications made electronically outside ordinary hours. An interim order may protect more than one affected person (section 39).

Existing family violence orders. Section 36 restricts interim orders where an existing family violence intervention order, or a non-local DVO that is a recognised DVO, covers the affected person and the respondent in either direction. There is a narrow statutory exception, directed at the situation where the person seeking protection is the respondent under an existing interim family violence order and the other party is the protected person under it. The interim restriction is not the same as the final-order restriction in section 62, and both need to be checked. Where two schemes are genuinely in play, sections 133 and 134 allow related applications to be heard together and give the applicable family violence order priority to the extent of any inconsistency.

Safeguards for child respondents and people with cognitive impairment. The appropriateness assessment under sections 35 and 61(2) allows the court to consider a child respondent's age and maturity, and a cognitively impaired respondent's capacity, when deciding whether they can understand and comply with an order. Excluding a child respondent from a residence is separately controlled by section 71, and sections 74 and 75 require the court to consider whether a condition would prevent a student respondent attending school and allow it to seek a report. Section 18 prevents an order against a child under 12 at all.

Explanation, listing and expiry. Section 40 requires the registrar to give the respondent and the protected person a written explanation, in the prescribed form, of the purpose, terms and effect of the order, the consequences of breach, when it expires and how it may be varied, that the order is a civil order and the protected person cannot give permission to contravene it, and the process for deciding the final order. A failure to explain does not invalidate the order. Section 42 requires the matter to be listed for a decision on the final order as soon as practicable, allowing a reasonable time where a mediation direction has been given. An interim order ends in one of the ways set out in section 43 — on service of a final order that continues it, when the final order is made, when a final order is refused, on revocation, or on withdrawal of the application.

No appeal against an interim decision. Section 91(2)(b) excludes any appeal against the making of, or a refusal to make, an interim order. A respondent who says the order should not have been made has two procedural routes rather than an appeal: applying under section 86 for leave to vary or revoke, including the specific pathway where the order was made in their absence and leave is sought within 21 days of service, under which the court may set the order aside in exceptional circumstances; and contesting the final order. Neither route suspends the interim order. It must be obeyed while it is in force, and a contravention is a criminal offence even if the order is later varied or revoked.

Final orders, consent and conditions

At a contested final hearing the court decides on the evidence, on the balance of probabilities, whether the section 61 grounds are established. Witnesses give evidence and are cross-examined. Section 47 allows the court to inform itself as it thinks fit, subject to the Act's own evidence provisions and the requirements of fairness, so the process is not as constrained as a criminal trial — but the applicant still has to prove the case rather than simply assert it.

Consent without admissions. Under section 64(1) the court may make a final order without being satisfied of the section 61 matters where the parties to the proceeding consent to, or do not oppose, the making of the order. The respondent admits nothing and the court makes no findings about the allegations. The safeguards are real: where the respondent is a child the court must still be satisfied of all relevant matters; where the respondent is an adult the court may refuse under section 64(2)(b) if it believes the order is not appropriate in all the circumstances having regard to the section 61(2) matters; the court may hold a hearing if the interests of justice require it; and it may refuse a consent order that may pose a risk to the safety of a party or of a child of the protected person or respondent. A consent order is enforced in exactly the same way as one made after a contested hearing, including the criminal consequences of breach — which is why consenting is a decision to take advice on, not a formality.

Conditions. Section 67(1) allows the court to include any conditions that appear necessary or desirable in the circumstances, and section 67(2) lists examples without limiting that power:

• prohibiting prohibited behaviour against the protected person;
• prohibiting stalking the protected person;
• excluding the respondent from the protected person's residence;
• prohibiting the respondent from approaching, telephoning or otherwise contacting the protected person — the Act's own examples include email and text messages — unless in the company of a police officer, dispute assessment officer, mediator or specified person;
• prohibiting the respondent from being within a specified distance of the protected person or a specified place, including where they live;
• prohibiting the respondent from causing another person to engage in conduct prohibited by the order; and
• revoking or suspending a weapons approval or exemption, or cancelling or suspending a firearms authority, as provided by section 69.

Conditions should be proportionate to the risk and workable in practice. Section 66 requires the court to consider including conditions that will not prevent mediation — a reminder that blanket no-contact conditions can cut across the Act's own dispute-resolution pathway. A residence for these purposes is a place shared, formerly shared or proposed to be shared (section 65). Excluding a child respondent from a residence is tightly controlled by section 71, which requires the court to weigh continuity and stability for children living with the protected person against the respondent child's access to accommodation, care, supervision, education and health services, with specific regard to culture and extended family where the child is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

When a final order is made, section 76 requires a clear oral explanation to whichever of the respondent and protected person is present, covering the purpose, terms and effect of the order including its effect on firearms and weapons, the consequences of non-compliance, and the fact that the protected person cannot give permission to contravene it. A written notice must also be given.

Only the court can change an order. Private permission is irrelevant. If the protected person invites contact, or the parties reach an informal arrangement, the conditions still stand and the respondent still commits an offence by contravening them. The correct step is an application to vary.

Duration and cross-applications

There is no default period fixed by the Act and no standard term. Under section 77 the court specifies how long a final order runs, and in doing so must take into account the applicant's assessment of the level and duration of risk from the respondent and, where the applicant is not the protected person, the protected person's views and their own assessment. The court may also take into account matters the respondent raises about duration. Where the respondent is a child, section 78 caps the period at 12 months unless there are exceptional circumstances. If no period is specified, section 79 provides that the order continues until it is revoked by the court or set aside on appeal.

Cross-applications. Neighbour and workplace disputes frequently produce applications in both directions. Section 45 allows any number of applications to be heard together where the court thinks fit, on a party's application or on the court's own initiative in the interests of justice. Hearing them together does not mean deciding them together. Each application must be determined on its own evidence against the section 61 test, and mutual orders are not automatic: the court may make orders both ways, one way, or refuse both. Filing a cross-application as a tactic is a poor idea — section 16A screening applies, and section 111 allows costs against an applicant whose application was vexatious, frivolous or made in bad faith.

Firearms and weapons

The firearms and weapons consequences of a PSIO come from two different sources, and they are often confused.

Discretionary conditions under the PSIO Act. Section 68 requires the court, if it intends to make an order, to enquire whether the respondent holds a firearms authority, is a person to whom a weapons exemption applies, or holds a weapons approval. Section 69 then allows the court — it is a discretion, not an obligation — to include a condition suspending those entitlements in an interim order, or cancelling a firearms authority and revoking a weapons approval or exemption in a final order.

Automatic consequences under the Firearms Act. Independently of any condition, paragraphs (c)(ib) and (c)(ic) of the definition of prohibited person in section 3(1) of the Firearms Act 1996 (Vic) provide that a person subject to a final order under the PSIO Act is a prohibited person, and remains one until not more than five years have expired since they were subject to such an order. Section 47A requires the Chief Commissioner to suspend the licence of a holder who becomes a prohibited person on that basis. Being a prohibited person is what makes possession, carriage or use of a firearm an offence — not the PSIO condition.

What review is available. Where no section 69 condition is imposed, a person who is a prohibited person because of a final PSIO may apply to the court under section 189 of the Firearms Act for a declaration that they are deemed not to be a prohibited person, generally or for limited purposes, on 28 days' written notice to the registrar, the Chief Commissioner and the protected person; the application cannot be heard until any appeal under the PSIO Act has been determined. Where a section 69 condition is imposed, section 127 of the PSIO Act removes both that section 189 route and any appeal against the decision under the Firearms Act 1996 (Vic) or the Control of Weapons Act 1990 (Vic). Section 127 does not affect the appeal and rehearing rights under the PSIO Act itself.

Surrender and compliance. Section 115 allows a police officer who is aware that a person has a firearm, firearms authority, ammunition or weapon to direct immediate surrender, or surrender at a specified place within a specified time or, if none is specified, within 48 hours. Failing to comply without lawful excuse carries 60 penalty units for a firearm and 30 penalty units for an authority, ammunition or a weapon. Section 116 allows a search of premises without warrant in the circumstances it specifies. Sections 121 and 122 govern what happens to surrendered or seized items depending on whether a final order is made, including return, forfeiture or disposal. If firearms are part of your life or livelihood, raise it before consenting to any order: the consequences are not fully within the court's control.

Breach and criminal consequences

Making an order and breaching one sit on opposite sides of the civil–criminal line. A PSIO proceeding is civil and protective. The court decides on the balance of probabilities whether the statutory grounds are met; it does not convict anyone, and an order is not a criminal record.

Contravention is a criminal offence. Section 100 applies once the respondent has been served with a copy of the order or has had it explained under section 40 or section 76, and carries a maximum of two years imprisonment or 240 penalty units, or both. Section 101 allows a police officer who believes on reasonable grounds that the offence has been committed to arrest and detain without warrant.

Two points cause repeated trouble. First, the protected person cannot consent to a breach — a message inviting contact does not make the contact lawful, and the respondent remains liable. Second, a PSIO can be made even though the respondent has been charged with an offence arising out of the same conduct (section 112), so civil and criminal proceedings often run in parallel. If you are charged with contravening an order, get advice before speaking to police; our guide to police interviews explains why.

Collateral consequences. The Act contains no provision that of itself cancels a Working with Children clearance, a professional registration, a licence or a job. Nor can anyone promise that an order will have no effect. What happens depends on the terms of the order, the conduct alleged or proved, any charge and its outcome, your own disclosure obligations to an employer or regulator, and the relevant regulator's assessment under its own legislation. Firearms consequences are automatic, as set out above. Where you hold a registration, clearance or licence, get advice about your disclosure obligations before consenting to conditions.

Variation, extension, appeal and rehearing

Who may apply to change an order. Section 85 allows an application to vary, revoke or extend to be made by a party to the proceeding in which the order was made — the protected person is a party whether or not they applied — by a parent of a protected child, by a protected child aged 14 or more with leave, by a police officer who was not a party, and by a guardian who was not a party.

Variation and revocation. Section 80 gives the court power to vary or revoke, and requires it to have regard to all the circumstances and in particular the applicant's reasons, the protected person's safety and views, whether the protected person is legally represented, and any guardian's views. If the court refuses to revoke, it may instead vary the order as it considers appropriate. Section 82 requires the court, before varying or revoking, to consider whether the need to protect any other person covered by the order has changed. A respondent cannot simply apply: section 86 requires leave, generally available only where there has been a change in circumstances that may justify variation or revocation, and, for an interim order, where it is in the interests of justice to determine the application immediately rather than waiting for the final hearing. Where an interim order was made in the respondent's absence, leave may be granted in the interests of justice having regard to the reasons for the absence, and the court may set the order aside in exceptional circumstances, provided leave is sought within 21 days after service — a period the court may extend in exceptional circumstances.

Extension. Under section 83 the court may extend a final order if satisfied on the balance of probabilities that, if it is not extended, the respondent is likely to commit prohibited behaviour or stalking against the protected person — expressly regardless of whether the respondent breached or complied while the order was in force. Timing matters. Section 84 allows an interim extension order in the respondent's absence where the application is made before the order expires and the respondent has not yet been served; it expires 28 days after it is made unless the respondent is served earlier, and more than one may be made if service has not been possible. The Magistrates' Court suggests applying at least four weeks before the order ends. An application made after expiry is not an extension application at all — a fresh application for a new order is required.

Where a police officer applies to vary or extend, section 87 allows it without the protected person's consent, but with the same restricted set of conditions and a prohibition on removing conditions. Under section 89, where the protected person objects to an application made by a parent, guardian or police officer, their views must be heard separately.

Appeal. Section 91 allows a party to appeal against a final order or a refusal to make one. There is no appeal against the making of, or a refusal to make, an interim order. Section 92 directs the appeal to the County Court, or to the Trial Division of the Supreme Court where the decision was made by the Children's Court constituted by the President, or to the Court of Appeal where it was made by the Magistrates' Court or Children's Court constituted by the Chief Magistrate as a dual commission holder. Notice of appeal must be filed with the court that made the decision within 30 days (section 93). Filing does not stay the decision: the order continues to operate unless the original court orders a stay under section 94, and it may impose conditions where necessary to protect the protected person or secure attendance. The appeal proceeds by way of rehearing (section 96). Section 95 limits the objections that may be taken on appeal, and section 97 provides that there is no further appeal except where jurisdictional error is alleged.

Rehearing is a different mechanism. Section 99 allows a respondent against whom a final order was made to apply to the Magistrates' Court for a rehearing of the matter. It is available where the respondent was not personally served with the application, and substituted service was not ordered, or where the court is satisfied there are exceptional circumstances that make a rehearing fair and just in all the circumstances. It is not an appeal: no error has to be shown, the same court hears the matter again, and the higher courts are not involved. Like an appeal, an application for rehearing does not stay the order. The Magistrates' Court publishes a specific rehearing form. If you have only just learned about an order made against you, rehearing is usually the first thing to investigate — and the 30-day appeal period is running at the same time, so get advice promptly.

Court safety, evidence and accessibility

The Act contains practical protections for people who are frightened of attending court, and for children.

• Closed court. Section 51(1) allows the court to order that all or part of a proceeding be heard in closed court, or to restrict who may be present. Section 51(2) requires a copy of the order to be posted at the court, and section 51(3) makes contravention of the order an offence carrying a maximum of 1,000 penalty units or three months imprisonment.
• Alternative arrangements for evidence. Section 52 allows arrangements including giving evidence from a place other than the courtroom by closed-circuit television or similar means, screens to remove the respondent from the witness's direct line of vision, a support person beside the witness, and limits on who may be present while a witness gives evidence.
• Separate hearing of the affected person's views. Section 46 requires the affected person's views to be heard separately where they object to an application made on their behalf in the circumstances the section specifies, and section 89 applies the same principle to variation and extension applications.
• Children. Section 107 restricts the presence of children at proceedings under the Act in the circumstances it sets out, and section 49 limits evidence from children. The court must weigh protecting children from unnecessary exposure to the court system before allowing a child to be present.
• Time to get advice. Section 108 allows the court, on its own initiative or on a party's application, to adjourn to give a party a reasonable opportunity to obtain legal advice. If you are unrepresented and out of your depth on a mention date, ask.

Evidence. PSIO matters are decided on the balance of probabilities, and the quality of the contemporaneous record is often decisive. Keep a dated log of each incident recording the date, time, place, what was said or done and who else was present — a log written as events happen carries far more weight than a reconstruction prepared for the hearing. Preserve original messages, emails, posts, voicemails, call logs, CCTV footage and photographs of damage in native form, and take screenshots that show dates and sender details. Note police incident numbers, stations and officers. Because harassment and stalking both depend on repetition or a protracted pattern, set the incidents out chronologically so the pattern is visible.

Three warnings. Do not obtain evidence unlawfully — covert recording, accessing another person's accounts or devices, installing tracking software, or trespassing to film can be criminal, can be inadmissible, and can turn you into a respondent. Do not contact a respondent, directly or through someone else, in order to provoke a reply, and never make contact contrary to an order. And do not publish material that is subject to the restrictions discussed below. Respondents should also resist the temptation of a bare denial: consider whether the conduct falls within a section 61(4) exclusion, whether the parties are in fact family members, whether repetition is likely, and whether conditions can be narrowed rather than resisted entirely.

Publication restrictions

This is the aspect of PSIO practice most often misunderstood in both directions. The statutory prohibition is narrower than people assume, and the practical risks of posting are wider.

Section 123(2) is engaged where a party, a witness, or the person who is the subject of the order is a child. In that circumstance it is an offence to publish, or cause to be published, any of the following in relation to a proceeding under the Act or a proceeding for an offence against the Act:

• the locality, or particulars likely to lead to the identification of the particular court venue;
• particulars likely to lead to the identification of the child, or of any other person involved as a party, a witness or the subject of the order; and
• a picture of or including the child,

unless the court permits the publication under section 125A. The maximum penalty for a natural person is 100 penalty units or two years imprisonment, or both; for a body corporate it is 500 penalty units. Section 124 sets out the exceptions, including specified reporting and information sharing, and section 125 defines the particulars treated as identifying, which extend well beyond names to an address, workplace, school, physical description or anything else likely to lead to identification.

It follows that section 123 does not automatically prohibit identifying an adult-only Magistrates' Court PSIO proceeding. That is not permission to publish, however. An adult-only matter may still be affected by a suppression order, a closed-court order under section 51, another statutory restriction, a confidentiality obligation, or the law governing the material being posted — including material obtained in the proceeding.

Separately from any prohibition, publishing allegations or evidence about a proceeding carries real practical risk: defamation, breach of privacy, contempt, escalation of a safety situation, and damage to your own case if the court later reads what you wrote. Those are risks to weigh, not a blanket criminal prohibition. If you want to say something publicly about a proceeding, get advice first.

Costs

Section 111(1) provides that each party to a proceeding for a PSIO must bear their own costs. That is the ordinary position and it is deliberately protective — people should not be deterred from seeking protection by the risk of a costs order, and a respondent who successfully resists an order does not usually recover costs either.

Section 111(3) allows the court to depart from that position in two situations: where it decides there are exceptional circumstances that warrant otherwise, and where it is satisfied that an applicant's application was vexatious, frivolous or made in bad faith. Costs orders in PSIO proceedings are therefore genuinely exceptional, and it is wrong to assume that an unsuccessful party will pay. The general Victorian costs position in other civil litigation is different, and is covered in our guide to costs consequences in Victorian litigation.

Practical checklists

If you are seeking protection.

• Deal with immediate danger first. Call 000 if you are in immediate danger. A PSIO application is not an emergency response; police can apply on your behalf and can act on criminal conduct in a way a civil application cannot.
• Report criminal conduct to police. Assault, threats to kill, property damage, stalking and image-based abuse may be offences in their own right. A report also creates a contemporaneous record, and section 16A screening takes account of whether a report has been made.
• Build a chronology. Dates, times, places, what happened, who saw it. Lead with the pattern, not the worst single incident.
• Preserve original electronic evidence. Keep the original messages, posts and call logs, not just screenshots — and take screenshots as well, showing dates and sender details. Back them up.
• Identify witnesses early. Ask whether they will attend a contested hearing. Statements from people who will not come to court carry limited weight.
• Think about conditions. Ask for what is necessary and workable. Over-broad conditions invite a contest, cut across mediation, and are harder to enforce.
• Ask about interim relief. If you need protection now, say so, and be ready to give evidence or file an affidavit.
• Check service. An order has practical effect once the respondent is served. Confirm with the court or the police station.
• Prepare for court. Allow a full day, arrange an interpreter or support if needed, and ask about arrangements under sections 51 and 52 if attending with the respondent present is unsafe for you.
• Do not publish. Say nothing about the proceeding online. See the publication restrictions above.

If an application has been made against you.

• Obey the order immediately. Contravention is a criminal offence. Compliance is not an admission.
• Read the exact conditions. Distance, exclusion and no-contact conditions have precise terms. Identify what you must change today — a route, a residence, a workplace arrangement, social media accounts.
• Avoid all direct and indirect contact. Asking a friend or relative to pass on a message can contravene a condition prohibiting you from causing another person to engage in prohibited conduct.
• Preserve your own evidence. Your messages, call logs, photographs and records of the dispute may matter, including on a cross-application. Do not delete anything.
• Get advice before consenting. Consent without admissions produces a fully enforceable order with firearms and practical consequences. It is a decision, not a formality.
• Understand undertaking versus order. They are not the same thing, and an undertaking requires the applicant's agreement.
• Consider mediation honestly. Non-attendance is not an offence, but the court may take it into account under section 33.
• Prepare your evidence properly. Address the elements: the conduct alleged, whether it is likely to recur, whether an exclusion in section 61(4) applies, and whether narrower conditions would meet the case.
• Use the court, not informal permission. If the conditions are unworkable, apply for leave to vary. An invitation from the protected person is no defence.
• Act quickly on timing. Appeal is 30 days; setting aside an interim order made in your absence is generally 21 days from service; rehearing under section 99 has its own requirements.

Legal advice improves how a case is prepared, presented and resolved. It cannot guarantee an outcome, and no lawyer should suggest otherwise.

At Parke Lawyers we act for both applicants and respondents in PSIO matters across Victoria — advising on whether the correct scheme has been chosen, negotiating workable conditions, appearing at mention, interim and contested hearings, and dealing with variations, extensions, appeals and rehearings. We also advise employers and organisations whose staff or members are caught up in these disputes; where the conduct arises at work, employer duties are dealt with in our guide to the positive duty to prevent workplace sexual harassment.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and further reading

This article was prepared from the authorised in-force version of the legislation and from current official court and regulator guidance. Penalties are expressed in penalty units because the dollar value of a penalty unit is adjusted each financial year.

• Personal Safety Intervention Orders Act 2010 (Vic), Version 035 — authorised version, in force from 26 April 2026.
• Firearms Act 1996 (Vic) — definition of prohibited person, licence suspension and section 189 declarations.
• Personal safety intervention orders — Magistrates' Court of Victoria.
• Applying for a personal safety intervention order — Magistrates' Court of Victoria, including current forms and lodgement methods.
• Responding to a personal safety intervention order — Magistrates' Court of Victoria, including rehearing, contested hearings and appeals.
• Changing a personal safety intervention order — Magistrates' Court of Victoria.
• Personal Safety Intervention Order (PSIO) program — Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria.
• Personal safety intervention orders — Victoria Legal Aid, including undertakings and consent without admissions.

If you are dealing with a PSIO application, whether as the person seeking protection or as a respondent, the most useful step is early advice about which scheme applies, what the evidence actually establishes, and what conditions would work. Parke Lawyers can be contacted on 134 134 or through our enquiry portal, and we offer confidential consultations in Melbourne CBD and Ringwood, by telephone and by video.