My husband has been coercively controlling me throughout our marriage. During COVID lockdown it got really bad and I needed to do something about it so I suggested we should get counselling together which he refused. At this time, I was aware he was involved with an ex girlfriend. I caught him on his mobile phone in our bedroom having sexual relations with her over the phone. By this stage, I’d started to push back against his controlling behaviour and to stand up for myself. We’ve always had lots of arguments and yelling but they became worse in this situation where I wouldn’t back down. He recorded me yelling ( at my wits end in response to unbearable stress at his abuse) and then took out a family violence protection order against me. He told the police that I’d threatened to harm the children and that he’d found an empty bottle of Panadol on the floor that he was worried the children might have ingested under my watch. Then the DHHS got involved. He told them I was a raving drug addict. I do use marijuana recreationally for relaxation. As he has financial control, he would make deals with me where I would have to have sex with him in order that he supplied marijuana to me. Then he started growing and selling pot. Once the DHHS were involved, I saw him for what he was and told him I wanted a divorce. I left the house to stay with a friend because I was frightened of my husband and the DHHS plan was that I take respite for a few weeks and “sort myself out”. My husband said I should just come home and all this will go away, inferring that I let him take control again. I didn’t do that, and now my husband has told me he is going to doing everything he can to ruin me. The interim intervention order had three conditions on it to which I was agreeing to consent without admission. At the court hearing, my lawyer was not called despite requests to the court registrar to be notified if a presence was required (ie. to hear a case where the application had different conditions to that which was being consented to) yet the court passed an order with the full nine conditions. Which means I can’t see my kids for a year, nor can I live in my house because it is within 200m of the childcare centre where my daughter attends even though the AFMs on the order now live in a different suburb. I‘m now fronted with huge legal fees to fight this intervention order, and all the while I can’t be with my kids. And my husband is going to go for full custody. If I can’t be with my kids because of the IVO how can I demonstrate that I should have some custody of my children. My husband told me I will loose everything if I don‘t submit to him. Now it seems that is what is happening. How is he ‘winning’ with the authorities and tricking them into believing I am what he tells them I am. I know without a doubt my husband is only doing this to punish me. He doesn’t believe I would harm our children. He said so in the police statement he gave. When it was only the interim order in place, and I was away staying with my friend, he was constantly wanting me to mind the kids because he was working late or going out. A parent who was seriously worried about their children’s welfare at the hands of the parent they’d taken an IVO against surely would not ask that parent to mind them. What can I do to stop him from carrying out what’s he’s threatened to do? I just want to live in my house with my kids without him controlling me.