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You can apply to the Family Court to help protect you from family violence.
In an emergency, you don’t need permission from the person being hurt to call the police.
If you need to leave this website quickly, use the quick exit button at the bottom of the screen.
You can also find information about family violence specialist services on our help page.
Court orders are designed to help protect individuals from family violence. The different types of Orders depend on your situation.
If a Protection Order is made against someone, they can be arrested and charged with a criminal offence if they don’t follow the terms of the order.
The Protection Order will order the person who's causing harm to stop using family violence against you and your children. The Protection Order automatically applies to any children in your family aged 18 or younger and who lives with you for any time. This includes any unborn children.
The person who has used family violence is called the respondent. You and the respondent can be living together or separately.
You can ask for the Protection Order to protect other people who may be at risk of harm. For example, your new partner, your mother, other whānau members, or children who don’t live with you at any time. If they are adults, you should ask them if they agree to being included in the order.
The Protection Order can also include associates of the respondent if they’ve been encouraged by the respondent to engage in behaviour towards you that is considered to be family violence. It can order them to stop using family violence against you and anyone else covered by the order.
You can only apply for a Property Order and Furniture Order with a Protection Order. You can do this when you apply for a Protection Order or after a Protection Order has been granted. These orders are usually tied to your Protection Order. This means if your Protection Order is cancelled, the other orders will be cancelled.
There are two types of Property Orders you can apply for. Both orders mean the respondent won’t be allowed to live with you without your agreement.
Once a Property Order is in place, the Police can remove or arrest the respondent if they won’t leave, or if they come back.
If you’re renting, you can move out and end your tenancy early if you experience family violence. You can do this by giving your landlord two days written notice. There is no cost for you.
End your tenancy when you’re experiencing family violence(external link)
A Furniture Order allows the protected person to keep the furniture that was in their house if they and the other person have lived in this same house at the same time.
Furniture includes appliances, like your fridge, and other items like your bed.
There are two kinds of Furniture Orders you can apply for.
A Parenting Order is an order from the court that says who will care for your children day to day. This includes how, or if, the children will have contact with the other parent or whānau members they don’t live with.
You can apply for a Parenting Order at the same time you apply for a Protection Order.
In your Parenting Order application, you can ask for other people to visit your children under supervised contact if you’re worried about the safety of your children. Supervised contact is when your child spends time with a parent or another person in a safe, controlled place with someone else present. This can help the person having contact with the child to maintain their relationship with the child, while keeping everyone safe.
When considering an application for a Protection Order, the judge can decide to make a Parenting Order without an application if they think that is necessary to keep the child safe.
You can’t apply for a Police Safety Order. Police make this order to protect people from family violence. The order can last up to 10 days. Any children living with the protected person are automatically protected by a Police Safety Order.
Police Safety Orders(external link)
An undertaking is a written or verbal agreement given to the court by either the respondent or both parties. It will state what things each person will and won’t do. Everyone involved must agree to an undertaking, including what it says and how long it lasts for.
Undertakings aren’t the same as a court order, because they’re not enforceable by the Police or the court.
There are services available if you need help or support for family violence.
Visit our help page to find specialist family violence support