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If police have handed you something and used the words police protection notice, the first job is working out whether that is what you've got. Since 1 January 2026 there have been two police-issued documents in Queensland that sound almost the same but work very differently, and people confuse them all the time.
The distinction matters because only one of them takes you to court. If you have the other one and wait at home for a court date that isn't coming, a 28 day review period can pass without you knowing it applied.
The two documents, side by side
A police protection notice has been part of Queensland law for years, under the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act. Police issue it, and importantly it counts as an application to a court for a protection order. It requires you to turn up at a nominated court, and it stays in force until your matter is heard there.
The other document is a police protection direction. These started statewide on 1 January 2026. The Queensland Government describes a direction as an on the spot, 12 month order police can issue where it wouldn't be more appropriate for the matter to go to court. It does not take you to court the way a notice does.
They both exist now. The direction didn't replace the notice, and the Queensland Police Service lists both as current options.
A quick way to tell them apart is that a notice gives you a court date, while a direction doesn't and runs for 12 months. If you can't tell from the paperwork, ring the station that issued it and ask, or get advice, rather than guessing.
If you have a police protection notice
Because a police protection notice works as an application to a court, your path is a court one. You'll have a date and you need to be there.
What happens at that mention is the same as for any protection order application. You can agree to it, agree without admitting the allegations, ask for more time to get advice, or oppose it and have it set down for a hearing. Our article on responding to a domestic violence order goes through what each of those involves.
In the meantime, the notice puts conditions on you straight away. They bind you from the moment you're served rather than from your court date, and breaking them is a criminal offence.
If you have a police protection direction
With a direction, timing matters. A police officer issues it, and under the Act a supervising officer has to approve it. The Act allows an officer to issue one if they reasonably believe you've committed domestic violence, that a direction is necessary or desirable to protect the other person, and that it wouldn't be more appropriate to apply to a court instead.
Under the Act it starts when you're served with it, or when a police officer tells you it exists and what's in it, which can be done by phone, email, text or social media. From there it runs for 12 months, unless it ends earlier because a court order takes over, or a notice takes effect, or one of the other events the Act lists happens.
What's in it
The Act requires standard conditions on every direction. You must be of good behaviour towards the protected person, must not commit domestic violence against them, and must not get someone else to do what you can't do yourself. If an adult is named on it, the same applies to them. If a child is named, you also can't expose them to domestic violence.
Beyond that, the Queensland Police Service says a direction can include cool down, no contact, ouster and return conditions. Where a child is named, Queensland Government material indicates only the standard conditions apply to them.
What police are required to explain to you
Under the Act the officer issuing it has to explain what it's for and what it does, including that it's enforceable in other states and what it means for a weapons licence. They have to tell you how long it lasts, what the conditions are, what domestic violence means, what happens if you break it, what your review rights are and how to use them, and that it doesn't stop someone applying to a court for an order anyway.
One item on that list deserves particular attention. The officer must explain that the protected person cannot consent to a breach.
The same rule catches people out on court orders. If the protected person contacts you and invites contact, and you respond, you've breached the direction, and what they wanted makes no legal difference at all.
Breaking a direction
Breaking a direction is a criminal offence, and the Queensland Police Service states the maximum as three years in gaol or a fine.
The direction also stays in force while a review is running, so applying for a review doesn't mean you can start ignoring it.
Getting a direction reviewed
There are two separate routes, and you don't have to use them in order. Queensland Government material is explicit that you don't need to try a police review before going to a court.
Police review
Under the Act you can apply, and so can the protected person, someone authorised for them, or anyone named on it.
The Act sets the deadline at 28 days after you're served with the notice setting out the grounds for issuing the direction, unless the police commissioner agrees to longer.
According to the Queensland Police Service, the reviewing officer is a Senior Sergeant or Inspector, has to decide within 28 days of starting, and can only look at the circumstances as they were when the direction was issued. They can confirm it, revoke it and issue a new one, revoke it and issue a notice instead, revoke it and apply to a court for an order, or revoke it and do nothing further.
Two of those outcomes mean a police review can land you in court after all, which is worth weighing when you're choosing a route. The 28 day window is also why it matters that you know what you're holding.
Court review
Under the Act you can apply at any time while the direction is in force. There's no 28 day cut off on this route.
Queensland Courts sets out the process, which is to file the right form and turn up to the hearing, and there's no filing fee. The application is meant to be listed within 14 days of filing, or as soon as possible after that.
On a court review, the Act treats the direction as an application for a protection order, with police as the applicant. The court can set the direction aside, order that it ends on a stated day, or dismiss the application. Where it's set aside, the Act treats the direction as never having been issued, which is a different thing from one that simply stops.
Be clear about what a court review involves. It turns a police decision into a court proceeding, and the court can make a protection order at the end of it, so whether it's the right move depends on your circumstances.
You can appeal a court's decision on a review, but there's a time limit on doing it, so ask about that straight away rather than assuming you have a while.
What either one affects
Both a notice and a direction carry consequences beyond the conditions themselves.
Firearms are the clearest example. Under the Weapons Act, whether a domestic violence order has been made, or a direction or notice issued against you, goes directly to whether you're a fit and proper person to hold a weapons licence.
Blue cards can be affected as well. Queensland Government material identifies orders, notices and directions as matters that can trigger a blue card risk assessment. If you work with children, that's worth raising early.
What to do in the first week
Read the document properly and work out which one it is. Write down the date you were served and, if it's a direction, the date you were given the notice setting out the grounds, because that second date is when your 28 day clock starts.
Follow every condition from day one, including the ones that feel unnecessary. Don't contact the other person, and don't respond if they contact you.
Get advice quickly. Directions in particular have a short review window and a set of choices with very different consequences.
If police have issued something against you in Cairns
One problem that comes up is someone finding out weeks later that the document they filed away was a direction with a review period rather than a notice with a court date.
We act for respondents in domestic and family violence matters in Cairns. If you've been served and you're not certain what it is or what it requires of you, we can work it out with you. You can also read more about police protection orders.
If police have handed you a protection notice or a direction in Cairns, speak with us before the review period runs out.
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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