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Consenting to a DVO without admissions in QLD means an order is made against you, and you do not admit any of the things said about you in the application.
Legal Aid Queensland puts it as agreeing to a domestic violence order being made even if you do not agree with any or all of the statements in the application. Queensland Courts says the same thing more briefly: you can agree to the order even if you do not admit to the allegations.
It is offered and accepted at a great many first mentions, often without anyone explaining what it does. This article covers what it means for you and what it leaves unchanged.
What consenting without admissions means
An order is made, and it is a real one. It is exactly as enforceable as an order made after a contested hearing, and a police officer responding to a call in eighteen months will not know or care how it came about.
Breaking the order is a criminal offence, and every condition binds you the same way. The route to a criminal record runs through breaching the order, and consenting without admissions does nothing to soften that.
It ends the proceeding. There is no hearing date, no affidavits, no giving evidence and being cross-examined, and no waiting months. For some people that is the whole reason to agree.
No findings are made against you. The magistrate is not deciding that the allegations happened, nothing in the application is established as fact, and you have not agreed that any of it is true.
What consenting without admissions does not change
Consenting does not get you a lesser order. The conditions in a consent order are whatever is agreed or ordered, and they are not automatically softer because you did not fight.
It does not shorten the order. Queensland Courts describes most protection orders as lasting five years, and consenting does not change that on its own. If a shorter period matters to you, raise it while the order is being made rather than afterwards.
It does not protect your weapons licence. Queensland Courts describes a final protection order as cancelling a weapons licence, with a period of up to five years during which you cannot hold another. That consequence comes from the order existing, however it came to be made.
It does not keep the order away from a blue card assessment. Queensland Government material lists domestic violence orders among the information that can be assessed, so again the consequence attaches to the order.
Almost everything that will affect your life follows from an order being made. Consent without admissions limits what you have conceded, but most of what the order does to you stays the same.
Why consent without admissions is so common
For a lot of people the trade is a sensible one. A contested hearing takes months, and it usually means living under a temporary order the whole time anyway. You would prepare sworn statements, give evidence yourself and be questioned about the worst night of the last two years in a public courtroom. It costs money, and it takes a heavy personal toll as well.
Set against that, an outcome where no findings are made against you and the matter is over today can be a reasonable thing to take. Our article on contesting a DVO sets out what a hearing involves so you can weigh the two properly.
Consent without admissions is also convenient for everyone in a busy courtroom, which does not make it right for you. A busy list has its own momentum, and you are allowed to slow it down.
Negotiating the conditions when you consent
If you have decided to consent, the conditions are still open, and this is the most useful thing to understand about the option. Agreeing that an order can be made is different from agreeing to every condition sought in the application. An ouster condition, a restriction that stops you working, or a no contact condition with no carve out for handing over children can all be raised and argued about even in a consent.
People often consent to everything in the application because they think it has to be taken as a whole, and often that is not the case.
Our page on varying or revoking a domestic violence order covers what to do if a condition turns out to be unworkable later.
Questions to ask before you agree
What exactly are the conditions being sought? Read them word for word rather than relying on a summary.
How long is the order proposed to run?
Which of my licences, cards or registrations does an order touch, and what does each of those schemes ask about?
Are there other proceedings, family law or otherwise, where the existence of an order might come up, and how is it treated there? Ask about that for your own situation rather than assuming an answer.
If I am not ready to answer any of this today, can I ask for more time? In most cases you can, and Legal Aid Queensland lists asking for an adjournment as one of the standard options for exactly this reason.
If you are being asked to consent at Cairns Magistrates Court
There is often pressure to resolve a matter on the day, even though the consequences of an order run for five years.
We act for respondents in domestic and family violence matters in Cairns and across Far North Queensland. If you have been handed an application and someone has suggested consenting without admissions, it is worth going through what you would be agreeing to.
If you have a domestic violence order mention in Cairns and consent without admissions has been raised, speak with us before you agree to anything.
This article is general information about Queensland law. It is not legal advice. Every matter turns on its own facts, so speak with us about yours.
When you call Coral Coast Law, you speak directly with principal Joseph Rahim, and he handles your matter himself. Your first consultation is free and confidential.
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