Restraining Orders in Western Australia: FVRO, VRO and MRO Explained

Western Australia protects people from family violence and other threats to safety through three restraining orders under the Restraining Orders Act 1997 (WA): the Family Violence Restraining Order (FVRO), the Violence Restraining Order (VRO), and the Misconduct Restraining Order (MRO), each with its own legal test, default duration, and breach penalty.

If you are in immediate danger, call 000. For free, confidential family violence support and counselling, contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, available 24 hours a day, every day.

The three orders, and which one applies

WA's restraining order regime runs on one Act, the Restraining Orders Act 1997 (WA), split into three separate order types by Part. The Family Violence Restraining Order (FVRO), under Part 1B, is available where the respondent has committed family violence against the protected person and is likely to again, or where the applicant has reasonable grounds to fear future family violence (section 10D). The Violence Restraining Order (VRO), under Part 2, uses an identical structural test but for personal violence between people who are not in a family relationship (section 11A); section 12A is an explicit statutory bar preventing a court from making a VRO where the parties are in a family relationship, so a family violence situation must go through the FVRO track instead. The Misconduct Restraining Order (MRO), under Part 3, is different again: it does not require violence at all, only that the respondent is likely to behave in a way that would intimidate or offend the protected person, damage their property, breach the peace, or commit a specified offence under the Criminal Code, and that making the order is appropriate in the circumstances (section 34).

'Family violence' (section 5A) and 'personal violence' (section 6) are separately defined in the Act, and personal violence is expressly scoped to conduct against a person the respondent is not, and never was, in a family relationship with. WA does not use a 'Peace and Good Behaviour' order name; that terminology belongs to Queensland only. WA's own courts and police describe all three orders under the umbrella term 'restraining order', not 'AVO'.

Who can apply, and the difference in how hard it is to get one

FVRO and VRO applications go to the Magistrates Court, or the Children's Court if the respondent is a child, and can be filed by the protected person directly or by police on their behalf, at any Magistrates Court registry. MRO applications can be made by the person themselves or by a police officer acting on their behalf; if there is no particular protected person, a police officer may apply for an MRO on behalf of the public generally (section 38).

A meaningful asymmetry sits inside the FVRO and VRO tests even though they read almost identically. Section 10D(2) makes the FVRO a must-make order: if the court is satisfied the family violence test is met, it must make the order unless special circumstances make that inappropriate, and section 10D(3) specifically rules out one common argument, that a pending family court application counts as a special circumstance. The VRO test in section 11A has no equivalent presumption in the Act text reviewed for this page. In practice, this means an applicant who clears the FVRO threshold starts from a stronger legal footing than someone applying for a VRO on the same underlying facts, simply because of which order applies to their relationship.

There is no filing fee for either an FVRO or a VRO application. An MRO application is the only restraining order in WA that carries a fee: $195.50 in general, or $58.50 for an applicant who qualifies as an 'eligible individual', under the Magistrates Court of Western Australia's fee schedule effective from July 2026.

Police orders: fast protection, tightly time-limited

Police can issue a standalone Police Order without going through the court first, giving up to 72 hours of protection under section 30F. A Police Order lapses automatically if it is not served on the respondent within 24 hours of being made (section 30H), and it cannot simply be reissued on the same set of facts once it lapses. Division 3A of the Act (sections 62A to 62G) gives police entry, search, and seizure powers specifically tied to a suspected family violence incident, separate from the order-making power itself.

Where a matter goes to court on an urgent basis, an interim FVRO or VRO can be made by telephone (section 20 sets the urgency test a telephone application must satisfy; section 18 governs who may bring one). If a telephone order becomes final because the respondent does not object within 21 days (section 31), the resulting order defaults to a shorter three-month term (sections 16A(2)(b) and 16B(b)). An interim order made in person that becomes final the same way defaults to the usual two-year period, the same as an ordinary contested final order (sections 16A(2)(c)(ii) and 16B(c)(ii)).

Breach: two very different penalty tracks, and a mandatory-imprisonment rule for repeat offenders

Section 61 of the Act sets the breach penalties directly, and WA states them as flat dollar figures rather than penalty units, so there is no indexation drift to track:

An earlier AI-search summary of this Act circulated a figure of a $6,000 fine for a first FVRO or VRO breach and $12,000 for later ones. That figure does not match the Act text: the FVRO and VRO breach penalties are flat, at $10,000 and two years, regardless of how many prior breaches the person has. What actually escalates with repeat offending is not the fine, it is the availability of imprisonment itself. Section 61A creates a mandatory-imprisonment regime: where a person has two or more prior convictions for a 'relevant offence' (an FVRO, VRO, or Police Order breach; MRO breaches do not count toward this) within the preceding two years, the court must impose or include a term of imprisonment or youth detention unless it finds that doing so would be clearly unjust and the future risk to the protected person is low, and in that case it must give written reasons for not imprisoning. This provision is sometimes cited under a section number, 'section 61I', that does not exist in the current Act; the correct citation is section 61A.

Two further details from the Act's own text: exposing a child in a family relationship to the violence during a breach is a statutory aggravating factor at sentencing under section 61(4), tied to the Sentencing Act 1995 (WA); and a breach prosecution must be started within two years of the alleged breach under section 61(6).

Firearms consequences

Section 14 builds a firearms restraint into every FVRO and VRO automatically, by operation of law, not as something the court has to separately order: a person bound by either order is prohibited from possessing a firearm or firearms authorisation and from obtaining one, and must surrender any firearm items or firearms authorisations they already hold. The court must also consider (though it is not required to impose) a companion explosives restraint under section 14A. Unlike an FVRO or VRO, an MRO carries no automatic firearms restraint. The court hearing an MRO application may, but is not required to, restrain the respondent from possessing a firearm item or firearms authorisation (sections 36(2)(f) and 36(3)(c)); only if the court imposes that restraint do the surrender and seizure provisions in sections 14 and 62E apply, as if the MRO were a VRO (section 36(6)).

Duration and variation

A final FVRO or VRO lasts two years from when it comes into force unless the court sets a longer period, or, if the respondent is a prisoner, from their release (sections 16A and 16B). A final MRO lasts one year by default (section 37). All three order types can be varied or cancelled under Part 5 of the Act. As noted above, only a telephone order that becomes final by the respondent's non-objection defaults to the shorter three-month term; an in-person interim order becoming final the same way keeps the standard two-year period.

Interstate recognition

A domestic or family violence order made anywhere in Australia from 25 November 2017 onward is automatically recognised and enforceable in every state and territory, with no extra paperwork, under the cooperative National Domestic Violence Order Scheme (NDVOS). WA's FVRO is that kind of order, so it travels with the protected person automatically. The VRO does not: because it is a personal, non-family order, Legal Aid WA's own guidance confirms it must be separately registered in each state or territory where enforcement is needed, the same rule that applies to the equivalent personal orders in other states. WA official sources reviewed for this page did not separately address whether the MRO gets the same treatment as the VRO; treating it as not nationally recognised is consistent with the general rule, but no WA-specific source confirmed that for the MRO by name.

Responding to an order

Both people affected by an application, the protected person and the respondent, can be involved at each stage: a respondent served with an interim order can object within the relevant window and have the matter heard, and either side can later apply to vary or cancel an order under Part 5 as circumstances change. This page describes the legal framework that applies to both an applicant considering whether to seek an order and a respondent who has been served with one; it does not advocate for either outcome in a particular case. If family violence intersects with parenting arrangements, see parenting orders in Australia and the family court process in Australia for how those separate proceedings work; an FVRO does not itself decide custody or contact.

A person who has documented evidence of family violence, including a recording, should be aware that WA's surveillance-devices consent law still applies to how that recording was made; see Australia's recording laws by state for the general rules before relying on a recording as evidence. A person protected by an FVRO may also have grounds to end a residential tenancy early; see breaking a lease in Australia for how family-violence lease-break provisions work. Because a restraining order commonly triggers a firearms surrender, see firearms licensing in Western Australia for how that process interacts with an existing licence.

If you are in immediate danger, call 000. For free, confidential family violence support and counselling, contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, available 24 hours a day, every day.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between an FVRO, a VRO, and an MRO in WA?

An FVRO applies where the parties are or were in a family relationship and there has been, or is a reasonable fear of, family violence. A VRO applies to personal violence between people who are not in a family relationship; section 12A actually bars a court from making a VRO where the parties are in a family relationship. An MRO does not require violence at all, only intimidating, offensive, or property-damaging conduct, or a likely breach of the peace, and it is the only one of the three that carries an application fee.

How long does a WA restraining order last?

A final FVRO or VRO lasts two years by default unless the court sets a different period. A final MRO lasts one year by default. A telephone interim order that becomes final because the respondent does not object within 21 days defaults instead to a shorter three-month term; an in-person interim order becoming final the same way keeps the two-year default.

What happens if someone breaches a restraining order in WA?

Breaching an FVRO, a VRO, or a Police Order is a fine of $10,000 or up to two years' imprisonment, or both, under section 61. Breaching an MRO is a fine of $1,000 only, with no imprisonment available on that charge. A person with two or more prior breach convictions in the preceding two years faces mandatory imprisonment under section 61A unless the court finds that unjust and the risk low.

Is it true the penalty is s61I of the Restraining Orders Act?

No. That section number circulates in some secondary sources but does not exist in the current Act. The mandatory-imprisonment rule for repeat breaches is section 61A, and the base breach offence itself is section 61.

Does a WA restraining order automatically stop someone from having a firearm?

For an FVRO or a VRO, yes: section 14 builds an automatic firearms restraint into the order by operation of law, and the bound person must surrender any firearm or firearms authorisation they hold. An MRO carries no automatic firearms restraint, but the court may choose to impose one when making the order (section 36).

Does my WA FVRO protect me if I travel interstate?

If it was made from 25 November 2017 onward, yes, an FVRO is automatically recognised and enforceable in every Australian state and territory under the National Domestic Violence Order Scheme. A VRO is not automatically recognised interstate because it is a personal, non-family order; it must be separately registered in each state or territory where you need it enforced.

Does applying for an FVRO cost anything in WA?

No. Filing an FVRO or a VRO application carries no fee. An MRO application costs $195.50, or $58.50 for an eligible individual, under the Magistrates Court of Western Australia's current fee schedule.

Can a WA restraining order be varied or cancelled?

Yes. All three order types, FVRO, VRO, and MRO, can be varied or cancelled under Part 5 of the Restraining Orders Act 1997 (WA), and either the protected person or the respondent can apply.