Domestic Violence Lawyers Gold Coast

If someone controls many aspects of your life such as who you socialise with, your access to finances, social media and technology you may be experiencing domestic and family violence.

It is important to understand that domestic violence does not just mean that someone is being physically abusive. Domestic and Family Violence includes verbal, financial, and emotional abuse as well.

If you find yourself, male or female, in an urgent or unsafe situation and you don’t know what to do with your family law matter, we are here to help.

• so, do you need support from family members or friends? If not, where is the safest place that you can get to now?
• If you, your child or someone else is in IMMEDIATE DANGER or require immediate assistance CALL 000 straight away.

If you are not in an urgent situation, but you are the victim of family or domestic violence, it can be hard to make the decision to leave.

You have the right to live in a respectful and loving relationship and you do not need to live in fear.

If you are in a domestically violent relationship, we recommend you do the following to prepare for an emergency:

Find a support system with supportive family members or friends

Find someone you can really trust, whether it’s a family member or friend. You do not have to go through this alone. Agree on a code word, so that if you are in a domestically violent situation you can either send a message or make a call and say the word for help. Also, prepare an excuse so you can leave immediately if necessary.

Contact a support service

Support services can help provide you with help and encouragement through shared experiences. You can contact one of the following:

• DV Connect on 1800 811 811 for women and 1800 600 636 for men.
• Domestic Violence Protection Centre on (07) 5591 4222.
• 1800 RESPECT.
• Sexual Assault Helpline 1800 010 120
• Lifeline 13 11 14

Make a safety plan

Make a plan so that you can stay safe and escape quickly in the case of an emergency. Your plan should include:

• emergency numbers, such as your support person and support groups.
• emergency accommodation (where you feel safe and that the perpetrator will not know where you are): know where you are going to stay in an emergency, whether at a friend or family member’s home or at a domestic violence shelter.
• important documents and information, such as passports, birth certificates, bank account details, property titles to the house, Centrelink details and any other important documents or information that you or the children need.
• Pack an “escape bag”, which is a small bag, for you and your children that won’t be noticeable to your partner.

Change your passwords and turn off location settings

Once you have left, you’ll need to change all of your passwords and turn off location settings on all devices, including but not limited to:

• laptops
• mobile phones
• Apple ID password (as your text message can still be sent to the other side if they have a device linked to your Apple ID)
• email addresses
• bank accounts
• any other device, account or app you have which may have been shared with the perpetrator.

If you are engaged in separation or divorce proceedings and the other party makes an allegation of family violence that you assert is false, you will likely have to respond to this allegation in Court.  Our team of family lawyers can assist you defending an application by collecting appropriate evidence and witness statements to address allegations of family violence and will assist you in knowing your rights and options at law.

A  Protection Order or Domestic Violence Order is not a criminal conviction, although it imposes certain restrictions which may be onerous.  The Order may have an impact on you by affecting care arrangements with any children you may have or any immigration matters you may be engaged with. It may also affect any security clearances that you have for your employment or your ability to have a gun licence. Accordingly you should always obtain legal advice about how to best deal with the Order made against you and how it will impact upon you moving forward.

If you decide to consent to the terms of a Protection Order, our team of family lawyers can assist you in Court by negotiating what the final terms of a Protection Order will be.

If a Protection Order is in place and if you breach the terms of that Protection Order, then you must remember that you could be charged by the Police with a criminal offence if the police decide that there is enough evidence to convict you.