In Australia it's far too easy for somebody to walk into a magistrates court and walk out with an interim family violence order in addition to a summons for court being sent out to the accussed.

All of this can happen within an hour or two, without the knowledge of the receipient & without the need to produce any sort of evidence of their claims being factual.

What this means for the accussed/receipient is they are no longer able to contact the applicant, go within X amount of meters from the applicant or the applicants place of residence and work. Which is all good I understand there is a need for these things in some instances.

The problem arises when the applicant and respondent have children together because in some cases this now means the accussed is no longer legally able to contact or see their child/children and there's literally nothing they can do about it. The court sets a hearing date when application is lodged and even at this hearing (which is normally months after the application is lodged) the accussed is still unable to contest these aligations. At this first hearing the accussed can either accept the court order and not be legally allowed to contact their children or they can choice to contest the aligations, at which time the court will decide on another date (usually months later again) and at this hearing they are finally able to defend any aligations made against them.

Now if these orders that have been put in place (without evidence, official reports, photos, etc.) are broken then the respondent is summond to court to explain why they've breached this order and could be looking at anything from a small fine upto a lengthy imprisonment. And this is before even having the chance to defend themselves of the accusations made against them.(even if they're false)

Selfish Mothers and Fathers alike are using these family violence orders for the wrong reasons and have 'the system' supporting them along the way. In society today with growing number of dishonest, untrustworthy scummbags the application process for these orders need to be changed and laws be put in place to penalize those that try to take advantage of them. These orders should be applied for by the police after an investigation of any claims made & certainly after an incident that police have attended and deem one to be necassary.

I'm a victim to one of these falsley accussed orders and haven't legally been able to contact or see my daughter for over 3 months with her xmas gifts still sitting under the xmas tree awaiting her. I had my first court appearence in regards to the order today and was rudely told NO by the magistrate every time I tried saying something and now I'm unable to contact or see my daughter for at least another month, despite the evidence that my ex-partner lacks or the evidence/witnesses that I possess.intof you want to help change this process and ensure children aren't wrongly deprived the liberty of spending time with a falsely accused father or mother then please sign this petition.

A more formal petition that I plan to send into the house of representatives for the Parliament of Australia is also available if you're seeking to see this process change. email me at trentclarke@live.com.au and I'll organize this.