Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence

Many charges and terms fall under the legal umbrella of domestic violence. These include emotional, physical and financial abuse,  physical and sexual violence, property damage, threats to harm, and stalking.

In these situations, Police have the ability to impose an interim intervention order, lay charges, or both.

Here, ‘domestic’ parties refer to a current or a former spouse, a current or former domestic partner, your child, a child of a current or former spouse, a child of a current or former domestic partner, and a child who normally or regularly resides with you.

Penalties will differ depending on whether a charge is aggravated or not, meaning a breach of previous orders i.e. bail or invention order:

• For basic assault, the maximum penalty is 2 years imprisonment
• For an aggravated offence, the maximum penalty is 3 years imprisonment
• Where the offence is aggravated or includes a threat to use/ use of an offensive weapon, the maximum penalty is 4 years imprisonment
• For an aggravated offence of assault causing harm, the maximum penalty is 4 years imprisonment
• Where the assault causing harm is aggravated by a threat to use/ use of an offensive weapon, the maximum penalty is 5 years imprisonment