Breaching a Domestic Violence Order is a very serious criminal offence.

The general maximum penalty for the offence of contravening a Domestic Violence Order has recently been increased from 12 months imprisonment or 40 penalty units ($4,000) to 2 years imprisonment or 60 penalty units ($6,000)

The maximum penalty was increased to 3 years imprisonment or 120 penalty units ($12,000) if you have been convicted in the last 5 years of an offence of contravening a Domestic Violence Order, Police Protection Notice or release conditions.

The Magistrates Court, where offences for a breach of a Domestic Violence Order are commonly heard, can impose a term of three years imprisonment. If you are charged with a breach of a Domestic Violence Order, the risk of an actual term imprisonment as a sentence is a reality.

In R v Fairbrother; ex parte A‐G (Qld) [2005] QCA 105, the Court of Appeal included the following warning at paragraph [23]:-

“Perpetrators of serious acts of domestic violence must know that society will not tolerate such behaviour. They can expect the courts to impose significant sentences of imprisonment involving actual custody to deter not only individual offenders but also others who might otherwise think they can commit such acts with near impunity.”

Imprisonment will not always be the appropriate sentence for breaching a Domestic Violence Order. The increase in penalties was introduced by the legislature to provide additional scope for sentencing offenders in relation to the more serious forms of behaviour  and also provide an opportunity for increased distinction between first offenders and previous offenders with the appropriate sentence.