Consenting ‘Without Admission’ – What Does That Mean?
Agreeing to a Domestic Violence Order (DVO) being made ‘without admission’ is often considered the quickest and easiest solution when faced with a domestic violence application, especially in circumstances where the respondent does not wish to defend the action and agreeing to the order will not affect their livelihood (e.g. they don’t require a “weapons licence”) or otherwise impact significantly their life (a DV order is a civil order, not a criminal order).
However, if you have children and intend to commence family law proceedings it is important to be aware of its potential impact. Prior legislation made specific reference to whether or not a DVO was consented to, and it was held in a 2007 case that in circumstances where the evidence was not tested, as is the case of a consent ‘without admission’ DVO, the court could not find that the ‘presumption of equal shared parental responsibility’ had been rebutted by family violence.
The legislation and particularly that section has been amended so that the court is now required to reflect on factors far broader than whether or not a person on a ‘without admission’ basis consented to the making of a DVO. The flow-on effect being that in this broader context it may be far easier for the court to consider that the presumption has in fact been rebutted and equal shared parental responsibility may not apply.
If you have been served with a Domestic Violence Application and are not sure what to do, call us on 3221 4300 for a fixed cost initial consultation.
To make an appointment to discuss your personal circumstances, please phone us on (07) 3221 4300 or email at [email protected], or alternatively fill in our online form here.
