An intervention order is a civil order with consequences that are anything but civil in effect: where a person may live, whom they may contact, their parenting arrangements, their employment (particularly in licensed and regulated occupations), and their exposure to criminal liability — because breach of an order is a criminal offence, and allegations of breach are prosecuted.
Collins Chambers acts for both applicants seeking the protection of a Family Violence Intervention Order and respondents answering an application. The firm appears in the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria at every stage: mention, directions, negotiation, and contested hearing.
For respondents, the firm’s advice addresses the questions that matter most and are least often asked early enough: whether the application should be consented to without admissions or contested; what conditions can and cannot practically be lived with; how the order interacts with family law proceedings and parenting arrangements; and how any parallel criminal charges must be managed alongside the civil application — because the two proceedings affect one another, and a concession in one can become evidence in the other.
The firm also acts on applications to vary, revoke, or extend existing orders where circumstances have changed.
These matters frequently involve the most personal dimensions of a client’s life. They are conducted with corresponding discretion.