Police protection directions in Queensland

What police must believe before issuing one

Section 100B sets the grounds. Before issuing a police protection direction the officer must reasonably believe that the respondent has committed domestic violence, that the direction is necessary or desirable to protect the aggrieved, that none of the prescribed circumstances preventing a direction apply, and that it would not be more appropriate for the matter to go to a court.

Section 100B also requires the officer to consider the principles in the Act, the criminal and domestic violence histories of the parties, whether the circumstances are escalating such that a court application is warranted, and the views and wishes of the aggrieved.

There are structural safeguards. Only officers who have completed police protection direction training may issue one, and the issuing officer must first obtain the approval of a trained supervising officer.

When police cannot issue one

Section 100C lists circumstances in which a police protection direction must not be issued. If one of these applies and a direction was issued anyway, that is a live ground for review. The main ones are:

• The aggrieved or the respondent is a child.
• The aggrieved or the respondent is a police officer.
• The officer reasonably believes the respondent should be taken into custody in relation to the domestic violence.
• The respondent has used or threatened to use a weapon or an offensive instrument to commit the domestic violence.
• A domestic violence order or another police protection direction is already in force between the parties.
• The respondent has been convicted of a domestic violence offence within the previous 2 years.
• Criminal proceedings or protection order proceedings between the parties are already on foot.
• Both parties appear to need protection and the person most in need of protection cannot be identified.

That list is why a direction is not appropriate for the serious end of domestic violence. Directions were designed for matters where police would previously have issued a police protection notice and taken the matter to court, and the point of them is to keep those matters out of an overloaded court list.

The conditions and how long they last

Section 100G imposes standard conditions on every direction. The respondent must be of good behaviour towards the aggrieved and must not commit domestic violence against them, must not procure someone else to commit domestic violence on their behalf, and must comply with the conditions protecting any named person.

Section 100H allows additional conditions of the same kinds available in a police protection notice:

Under section 100R a direction remains in force for 12 months from when it starts. It ends earlier if a court order takes effect, if a police protection notice is issued, if release conditions are imposed, or if it is revoked on review.

The two ways to challenge one

1. Police review, sections 100T to 100Y

The aggrieved, the respondent, a representative of the aggrieved, or a named person can apply for a police review. The application must be made within 28 days after the notice stating the grounds for the direction is served on the respondent. An extension is possible if sufficient reasons are shown, but do not plan around one.

The review is conducted by an officer of higher rank than the officer who approved the direction and who had no involvement in issuing it, in practice a senior sergeant or an inspector authorised by the Commissioner. The reviewing officer must decide within 28 days of the review starting. The possible outcomes are to confirm the direction, to revoke it and issue a new direction with different conditions or named persons, to revoke it and issue a police protection notice instead, to revoke it and apply for a court protection order, or to revoke it with no further action.

2. Court review

You can apply to a Magistrates Court for a review at any time while the direction is in force. There is no filing fee and you use Form DV59A. If you are the respondent and you want the court to make a protection order naming you as the aggrieved, you also file Form DV59B.

Understand what a court review actually does before you file one. On a court review the direction is treated as an application for a protection order with police as the applicant. The court hears the evidence and decides the outcome, and that outcome can be a five year protection order rather than a twelve month direction. Starting a court review also stops any police review that has not yet been decided.

That is the strategic decision at the centre of this area. A police review risks little and can end the direction quietly. A court review can end it too, but it opens the door to a longer order. Which is right depends on the strength of the material, the conditions in dispute, and what else is happening in your matter.

Breaching a direction is a criminal offence

Section 177A makes contravening a police protection direction an offence with a maximum of 120 penalty units or 3 years imprisonment. Penalty units are indexed on 1 July each year, so check the current value.

The practical points mirror a breach of a court order. The direction binds you and only you, so the aggrieved inviting contact does not make contact lawful where a no contact condition applies. A single message can be a contravention. And a conviction for contravening a direction is a domestic violence offence, which means the court must record that fact on your criminal history under section 12A of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld).

One more thing worth knowing. If a direction is revoked on police review and is taken never to have been issued, it does not form part of your domestic violence history. A direction ended by a court does remain part of that history. That difference is a reason to think carefully about which review path you choose.

What to do in the first week

1. Read the direction itself. Not a summary, not what an officer said at the door. The conditions are the only thing that determines what you can lawfully do.
2. Assume a no contact condition applies until you have checked. Most contraventions in the first fortnight are messages sent to sort things out.
3. Note the service date. The 28 day police review window runs from service of the notice stating the grounds.
4. Sort out accommodation and property immediately if there is an ouster condition. A return condition allows a supervised collection, and doing it any other way is a contravention.
5. Get advice before you choose a review path. A police review and a court review lead to very different places, and starting a court review ends any police review in progress.

If children are involved, the conditions will interact with any parenting arrangement. Read our parenting and custody page and the protection order overview next.