Police protection directions: issue, conditions and criminal risk

The short version

• A PPD can take effect the moment police tell you about it, before you hold any paperwork. Service can follow later.
• Police can only issue one if they reasonably believe domestic violence has been committed, protection is necessary or desirable, no disqualifying circumstance applies, and applying for a protection order would not be more appropriate.
• There is a list of situations where police must not issue a PPD, including an existing or previous DVO between the same parties, a domestic violence offence conviction in the last 2 years, or an allegation that a weapon was used or threatened.
• If a child is named on the direction, police are generally limited to standard conditions only.
• Approval from a supervising officer is required before issue, and that officer must not have investigated the incident.
• On a contravention prosecution the court must consider whether the direction was issued in substantial compliance with the provisions, and where the direction took effect by police telling you, the prosecution must prove what you were told.

Why the issuing process matters to a respondent

Two situations come up repeatedly.

The first is a person served late at night who misreads the conditions, or who assumes that a conversation with the aggrieved fixes the problem. It does not. The aggrieved cannot consent to you contravening a direction.

The second is a person charged with contravention weeks later, who only then learns the direction took effect by phone call or text message, and that the whole case turns on what an officer said and when.

The scheme has safeguards built into it: approval requirements, service rules and explanation requirements. Those safeguards are also the ground on which a contravention charge is often fought.

Step 1: the investigation obligation

Before a direction is on the table, police who reasonably suspect domestic violence has been committed must investigate. If they then reasonably believe it has been committed, they must consider what action is necessary or desirable to protect the person at risk.

A PPD is one option among several. Police may instead apply for a protection order, issue a police protection notice, take a person into custody, apply for a temporary protection order, or take other action.

Step 2: the test for issuing a direction

An officer may issue a PPD only if the officer reasonably believes all four of the following.

1. The respondent has committed domestic violence.
2. A direction is necessary or desirable to protect the aggrieved from domestic violence.
3. None of the disqualifying circumstances apply.
4. It would not be more appropriate to take action involving an application for a protection order.

Reasonable belief is a long way below proof beyond reasonable doubt. A direction can be issued quickly on information available at the scene.

The officer must also consider the principles in the Act, including that safety is paramount and that generally only one person should be identified as most in need of protection. They must consider the criminal history and domestic violence history of both parties, whether risk factors point towards a court based order instead, and any views the aggrieved has expressed about whether a protection order should be sought.

If the respondent is somewhere else, the issuing officer must make a reasonable attempt to locate and speak to them, including by telephone, before issuing the direction.

Step 3: where a direction must not be issued

The Act lists circumstances in which police must not issue a direction. These matter, because they show the power was never meant to replace court based orders in higher risk or more complex matters. Police must not issue a direction if they reasonably believe that:

• either the aggrieved or the respondent is a child, or is a police officer;
• the respondent should be taken into custody in relation to the incident;
• a domestic violence order or recognised interstate order between the same two people is in force, or has previously been in force, regardless of who was named as aggrieved;
• a police protection direction against the respondent is in force or has previously been in force;
• the respondent has been convicted of a domestic violence offence within the previous 2 years;
• a proceeding for a domestic violence offence against the respondent has started and is not finally disposed of, subject to a narrow exception allowing a direction and a proceeding to start together for the same incident;
• an application for a protection order against the respondent has been made and not finally dealt with;
• the respondent used, or threatened to use, an offensive weapon or instrument;
• both parties appear to need protection and police cannot identify who is most in need of it.

There is a further child safeguard. If police believe a child of the aggrieved, or a child who usually lives with the aggrieved, needs protection, and that protection would require extra conditions such as no contact or ouster conditions, a direction must not be issued. Court based options are expected instead.

If one of these applied to your situation and a direction was issued anyway, that is a substantive ground on review, not a technicality.

Step 4: extra restrictions where the respondent’s child is involved

A separate restriction applies where a direction would name a child of the respondent, or would prevent or limit contact between the respondent and their own child.

Police must not issue the direction if they know or reasonably believe a relevant family law or child protection arrangement is already in place, such as a parenting order under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) or an order or care agreement under the Child Protection Act 1999 (Qld), or if a related proceeding is on foot. Before issuing, police must ask both the respondent and the aggrieved whether such orders or proceedings exist.

If a direction is issued and one of its conditions is inconsistent with an existing order or agreement, that condition has no effect to the extent of the inconsistency. The rest of the direction continues to operate.

Do not treat that as permission to choose between a parenting order and a direction. An accidental breach is still a criminal charge. Get advice quickly if there is any doubt about which document governs a changeover.

Step 5: the conditions police can impose

Every direction must carry standard conditions. Depending on the circumstances it may also carry additional protective conditions, but not if a child is named on it.

Standard conditions, which are mandatory

• Be of good behaviour towards the aggrieved and do not commit domestic violence against them.
• Do not use another person, directly or indirectly, to commit domestic violence against the aggrieved.
• If an adult is named on the direction, be of good behaviour towards that person and do not commit associated domestic violence against them, including through someone else.
• If a child is named, be of good behaviour towards the child, do not commit associated domestic violence against them, and do not expose them to domestic violence.

Additional conditions

Where no child is named, police may add conditions of the same kind available on a police protection notice.

A cool-down condition is short term. It can prohibit entering or approaching stated premises, approaching a person, or contacting a person. The end time must be written on the document and cannot be more than 24 hours after issue.

A no contact condition can prohibit approaching, contacting or attempting to locate the aggrieved or a named person, and can prohibit asking someone else to do it for you. There are limited exceptions, including asking your lawyer to contact the other person, or asking another person to make contact for a purpose authorised under an Act.

An ouster condition can prohibit entering, remaining at or approaching stated premises. Those premises can include property you own or have an interest in, premises the parties lived in together, and places where the aggrieved or a named person lives, works or goes regularly. Where the premises are the aggrieved’s usual residence, police must consider a list of factors similar to those a court applies, including safety, disruption to children, the aggrieved’s views and the accommodation needs of both parties.

A return condition usually accompanies an ouster condition. It allows a supervised return to collect stated personal property at a set time. It cannot authorise removal of property needed to meet the daily needs of anyone still living there.

An unborn child condition is available where police reasonably believe the aggrieved is pregnant. It takes effect when the child is born, and can apply whether or not the respondent is the father.

Step 6: approval and accommodation

Approval from a supervising officer authorised by the Commissioner is required before issue, and that officer must not have been involved in investigating the incident.

• Where the direction includes an ouster condition or a no contact condition, approval must come from at least a senior sergeant.
• Otherwise, approval must come from at least a sergeant.
• Approval can be given verbally, including by phone, radio or electronic means, but a written record must be made.
• If approval is refused, the issuing officer cannot go looking for a different supervisor.

Where a direction carries a cool-down or ouster condition, police serving it must consider the respondent’s accommodation needs and take reasonable steps to ensure access to temporary accommodation. The Act is explicit that this does not oblige police to provide free accommodation.

Step 7: service, grounds and the explanation requirement

Timing is the most confusing part of the scheme. A direction can take effect in one of two ways.

1. Personal service, or service under a court ordered substituted service arrangement.
2. A police officer telling the respondent about the existence of the direction and its conditions. That can happen by telephone, email, text message, a social networking site or other electronic means.

Even where a direction takes effect because you were told about it, police must still personally serve it. As soon as practicable after it takes effect, police must also serve a separate signed written notice stating the grounds for issuing it. That notice starts the 28 day police review clock.

Police must explain the direction and take reasonable steps to ensure you understand its nature and consequences, including what conduct counts as domestic violence, what happens if you contravene it, and the point most people miss: the aggrieved cannot consent to you contravening it.

If you did not understand what was happening at the time, because of stress, intoxication, language or mental health, that can be relevant later. It is not a reason to treat the conditions as optional in the meantime.

Step 8: how long it runs and how it ends

A direction can run for up to 12 months from the day it takes effect.

It can end earlier if it is overtaken by other steps, for example where a domestic violence order becomes enforceable, a police protection notice takes effect, or relevant release or bail conditions are imposed.

Review and challenge options are covered in our guide to challenging a police protection direction.

The everyday actions that become contravention charges

Contravention allegations are rarely dramatic. They are usually ordinary actions that happen to breach a condition.

• Replying to a message from the aggrieved, even where they made contact first.
• Sending an apology or checking in by phone while a no contact condition is in force.
• Going to the family home to collect clothes or tools without a return condition and without police supervision.
• Attending a place you are prohibited from approaching, such as a workplace, a school or a specific address.
• Passing a message through a friend or a relative.
• Direct messages, comments or other contact on social media, depending on how the condition is worded.
• Arguments at a parenting changeover where the condition includes a distance restriction.

Every direction is drafted differently. The starting point is always the exact words of the condition, not a summary and not what you remember an officer saying. If you are not sure whether something is permitted, get advice before you do it.

If you are charged with contravening a direction

Contravening a direction is an offence under section 177A of the Act, 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 rather than relying on an old dollar figure.

Two features of the scheme matter in defended matters.

1. The court must consider whether the direction was issued in substantial compliance with the provisions governing directions.
2. Where the direction took effect because police told you about it rather than by personal service, the prosecution must prove you were told about the existence of the direction, or about the specific condition you are alleged to have contravened.

Evidence goes stale fast. Preserve phone logs, messages, call records, location data, CCTV and any communications about changeover arrangements before they are overwritten.

Where a lawyer is actually useful

• Reading the conditions with you so you know precisely what you can and cannot do.
• Planning around accommodation and property access where an ouster or cool-down condition applies.
• Advising whether a police review or a court review is the right path, and how each interacts with any criminal investigation.
• Acting for you if you are interviewed, charged or brought before a court on a domestic violence offence.
• Bail advice where charges are laid.
• Negotiating with police prosecutors.

Part 1 of this series covers what changed on 1 January 2026. Part 3 covers the review pathways.