Safety
Family violence: get help before you get a brochure
If you or a child are in immediate danger, call 000. This page is a door to official and specialist services — not a safety plan and not legal advice.
At a glance
Citeable facts, not slogans
- 000
- Immediate danger
- 1800 737 732
- 1800RESPECT — confidential counselling
- DVO
- Queensland protection orders are state court process
- FDR
- Violence can be an exception to usual mediation rules
If you or a child are in immediate danger, call 000.
For confidential counselling and referral, contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800respect.org.au. Queensland specialist intake includes DVConnect.
This page is a door. It is not a safety plan, not legal advice, and not a prediction of what a court will do.
Two systems people mix up
On the Gold Coast, protection and family law often run in parallel:
- Queensland domestic violence orders are generally a state Magistrates Court process. Locally that often means Southport Courthouse. See Queensland Courts — domestic violence.
- Parenting and property after a marriage or de facto relationship are generally federal family-law files in the FCFCOA.
A DVO is not automatically a parenting order. A parenting order is not automatically a DVO. Tell each process the truth; do not assume one stamp updates the other.
Family law intersections (high level)
Family violence can affect:
- whether FDR is safe or whether a 60I exception applies
- the best-interests analysis, including safety
- how you gather documents after separation — do not “share everything” into an unsafe channel
We will not invent a Gold Coast statistic about outcomes.
Community legal doors
Legal Aid Queensland and Gold Coast Community Legal Centre are real services with their own intake rules. They are listed on the resources page. This website is not either of them.
This website publishes general information about Australian family law, with a Gold Coast and Queensland local lens. It is not legal advice, is not a substitute for advice from a qualified lawyer, and does not create a solicitor–client relationship. Family law is fact-specific. Statutes, court rules and agency processes change. Confirm current requirements with official sources and obtain personalised advice before you act.
Questions
Direct answers first
Where do I get help for family violence on the Gold Coast?
Immediate danger: 000. National counselling and referral: 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or 1800respect.org.au. Queensland specialist intake includes DVConnect. Protection orders in Queensland are generally a Magistrates Court process — on the Gold Coast that often means Southport — which is different from an FCFCOA parenting or property file. Ask a specialist service and a lawyer; do not rely on this paragraph for safety decisions.