‘AVO debacle’: Thousands left without police protection

Thousands of domestic and personal violence victims in NSW have been left without lawful protection after a system error changed the expiry dates of AVOs.

Thousands of domestic and personal violence victims in NSW have been failed and left without lawful protection after a system error changed the expiry date of AVOs.

At least 3,000 people have been exposed by the shocking Department of Communities and Justice mistake, which brought forward the end date of court-imposed violence orders.

The statewide error, which is being blamed on a computer glitch, has affected the accuracy of a percentage of AVOs issued since December 2016.

A spokesperson for the DCJ said urgent ‘remedial action was being undertaken to address the consequences of the affected AVOs.

But victim advocates said it will be “blood on the hands” of authorities if another person is killed or seriously injured as a result of this error.

Sama Balson says lives are at risk. Picture: Danielle Smith

Sama Balson, founder and CEO of Women’s Village Collective, helps domestic violence victims every day through her charity, and said AVOs are so vital in protecting people and getting fast action from police when there is a breach.

“This is terrifying. Lives are literally in the balance … we already have, what is it, a woman a week being murdered? This is putting people are serious risk,” Ms Balson said.

She said police, who are already under resourced, will have to pick up the slack for the computer error, in order to keep people protected.

“If this is a systemic error, they’re going to have to trust the victim … work out the paperwork later, but in the first instance, the victim must be listened to.”

NSW Police, whose job it is to enforce AVOs, was informed about the problem this week.

Thousands have been left unprotected because of incorrect AVOs. Pictures: Supplied

An urgent action group with senior officers and other domestic violence stakeholders was immobilised to address the consequences of the affected AVOs.

“Police have been made aware of the issue and are awaiting advice from the Department of Communities and Justice,” a NSW Police spokesperson said.

But a senior officer told The Daily Telegraph the “AVO debacle” was a huge problem for police to wade through.

“Basically when we show up at a job, we look orders are in place at that address or with those people … and if AVOs have been wrongly expired before they were meant to, it’s the difference of us being able to arrest someone for a breach or not,” the officer said.

“It’s not our mistake, yet we are left to sort out the mess”.

Sydney criminal lawyer Paul McGirr said the expiry mistake had significant consequences for offenders as well as victims.

“A person who is the subject of an AVO is still bound by what they’re told in court … but technically, if a computer is showing a different end date, it could become a defence,” Mr McGirr said.

In a statement, the DCJ said the issue was being urgently fixed, but could not say when it would be resolved.

“The cause of the issue is under urgent investigation and remedial actions are in place,” a DCJ spokesman said.