Protection Orders NZ: How the Family Violence Act Protects You

A protection order is a Family Court order made under the Family Violence Act 2018 that places legal conditions on someone who has used family violence against you, to help keep you and your children safe.

If you are in immediate danger, call Police on 111. For free, confidential support any time, day or night, call the Family Violence Information Line on 0800 456 450, Shine on 0508 744 633, or Women's Refuge on 0800 733 843. You can also call or text 1737 to talk with a trained counsellor.

This is general information about New Zealand law, not legal advice. For your own situation, consult a lawyer or your local Community Law centre.

What a protection order does

A protection order is made by the Family Court under the Family Violence Act 2018. Its purpose is to protect someone, and often their children, from further family violence by a person they are or were in a family or close personal relationship with. Family violence under the Act is broad: it covers physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse (which includes intimidation, harassment, damage to property, and threats), and financial or economic abuse.

A protection order can name the applicant and other protected people, such as children living with the applicant or a new partner. Whether an order is made, and on what terms, is a decision for a judge based on the evidence in the application. Applying for an order does not guarantee one will be granted.

Who can apply

You can generally apply for a protection order if you are 16 or older and are in, or have been in, a family or close personal relationship with the person you need protection from. That covers partners and former partners, other family members, people who ordinarily share a household including flatmates, and carers. If you cannot understand or communicate decisions about your own care because of your circumstances, someone else can apply on your behalf. Police can also apply for an order connected to a criminal case involving family violence.

If you have never had a family or close personal relationship with the person, for example a neighbour or a stranger, a Restraining Order under separate legislation may be the relevant option instead of a protection order.

Temporary orders and final orders

Most protection order applications start as an application for a Temporary Protection Order. If your situation is urgent, you can ask the court to make the order without notice, meaning the other person is not told about the application in advance. Where a judge agrees the case is urgent, a Temporary Protection Order can be made quickly, often within a day or two, based on your sworn statement, called an affidavit.

A Temporary Protection Order generally becomes final by law about three months after it is made, unless the respondent formally objects within that time. If the respondent objects, the Family Court holds a hearing and decides whether to make the order final, on notice, or to discharge it. A Final Protection Order stays in place until the court changes or cancels it. It does not expire on its own.

Standard conditions

Every protection order, temporary or final, carries the same core conditions. The person named in the order must not:

• Use, or threaten, physical, sexual, psychological, or financial abuse against the protected people.
• Contact the protected people, or encourage anyone else to do so, including going to their home, workplace, or school, or contacting them by phone, text, email, or social media.
• Possess a firearm or hold a firearms licence. Anyone named in a protection order must generally surrender any firearms to Police within 24 hours, and a final order results in the licence being revoked unless the court is satisfied it is safe not to.

A judge can add further special conditions on top of these, and a final order often directs the respondent to attend an approved non-violence programme.

A newer tool: stopping abuse through the court itself

Family violence does not always stop once a protection order is in place. Some perpetrators use ongoing court applications, such as repeated parenting or property proceedings, to keep contacting, harassing, or controlling a victim. This is sometimes called litigation abuse.

Since 17 February 2026, the Victims of Family Violence (Strengthening Legal Protections) Legislation Act 2025 gives the Family Court a further tool for this pattern. Where the court is satisfied that a person has engaged in litigation abuse, meaning using the court system to harass, annoy, harm, or psychologically abuse another person, it can order that person to get the court's approval before taking any further steps in new or existing proceedings. These orders generally last up to three years, and up to five years in exceptional circumstances.

How to apply

Applications for a protection order are made to the Family Court, usually the one nearest to where you live, using the court's protection order forms and a sworn statement setting out what has happened and why you need the order. Community Law centres, Women's Refuge, and Shine can all help with the practical steps of applying, including safety planning while an application is on foot. There is no application fee for a protection order.

If a protection order is breached

Breaching a protection order is a criminal offence. Police treat a breach as a priority, and a person arrested for breaching a protection order cannot be granted Police bail for at least 24 hours. On conviction, the maximum penalty is three years' imprisonment, and a breach involving other conduct can be charged alongside more serious offences.

Getting further help

Family violence often includes threatening, abusive, or humiliating messages sent by phone or online. Where that is happening, the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 gives a separate route to get harmful content taken down. See the Harmful Digital Communications Act for how that process works. For the wider picture of New Zealand family law, see the family law guide.