Listen to the person.
We want the protected person’s experience, concerns and priorities to remain central. Their voice deserves to be heard without reducing their life to a label or an isolated incident.
THE PROTECTED PERSON COMES FIRST
Your life.
Your space.
Your future.
Domestic and family violence can take away a person’s sense of safety, freedom and control. You deserve to be heard, treated with dignity and supported in making choices about your life.
Olo’s purpose begins with the protected person: your experience, your wellbeing and your future. Abuse is not your fault. Responsibility belongs to the person using it.
Understand our purposeOUR MISSION
To put the protected person’s safety, dignity and choices at the centre.
Our aim is to support a future in which people affected by domestic and family violence have more room to make their own decisions, maintain meaningful connections and live without fear.
On this website, “protected person” describes the person whose safety and wellbeing Olo seeks to support. It is not a legal finding or a statement that a protection order is in place.
RECOGNISING ABUSE
Your experience matters.
Even without visible injuries.
Domestic and family violence includes behaviour that harms, frightens, coerces or controls another person. It can happen in current or former intimate relationships, families, kinship relationships and some caring relationships. It is not limited to physical assault.
It can include sexual abuse, threats, humiliation, isolation, restricting access to money, stalking and abuse through technology. Threats involving children, other loved ones or animals can also be used to frighten or control someone. Cultural, spiritual or identity-based abuse may be part of a person’s experience.
Read more: Queensland Police — understanding domestic and family violence
Look at the pattern, not only one event.
Coercive control involves repeated abusive behaviour used to dominate another person. Restrictions, intimidation and isolation can gradually reduce freedom and create fear. Understanding what has happened over time matters, including behaviour that may look less serious when viewed on its own.
Domestic and family violence occurs across communities, ages and income groups. Women and their children are particularly at risk of violence from current or former partners. People of any gender or sexuality can experience abuse.
Read more: NSW Communities and Justice — what domestic and family violence means
THE WHOLE PERSON
The effects can reach
everyday life.
Violence and abuse can affect physical health, emotional wellbeing, housing and relationships. Fear and trauma can remain after an incident has ended. The effects may be personal, social and financial, and are not always visible to other people.
From Olo’s perspective, a person’s wellbeing cannot be reduced to a single event. Their sense of security, connections and ability to go about ordinary life matter too.
Read more: NSW Communities and Justice — effects of domestic and family violence
Children have their own experiences and needs.
Children and young people may be harmed directly or affected by violence towards someone else. They do not have to witness an incident in person to be affected. Their health, development, relationships and education can be impacted, and their needs may differ from those of the adults around them.
Support should recognise each child as a person with their own safety and wellbeing needs, alongside support for the non-abusive parent or carer.
Read more: Victoria Police — children, young people and family violence
SAFETY & CHOICE
Support that respects
your circumstances.
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, contact emergency services. This website is not an emergency response service.
There is no single path everyone can follow.
Leaving an abusive relationship can be difficult and dangerous. Housing, money, children, care needs, threats and emotional ties can affect someone’s options. Remaining in a relationship or returning to it does not make the abuse their fault.
A supportive response listens without blame, takes fears seriously and avoids pressuring someone into a decision. The person’s knowledge of their circumstances is important.
Read more: NSW Communities and Justice — supporting someone experiencing violence
Safety planning is personal and can change.
A safety plan considers practical ways to reduce risk in the person’s own circumstances. Specialist domestic and family violence services can help with planning while someone is staying, preparing to leave or living after separation. A plan may need to change when relationships, living arrangements or family needs change.
Trusted people can be part of that support when it is safe to involve them. Planning should support the person’s decisions, rather than transfer responsibility for the abuse onto them.
Read more: NSW Communities and Justice — safety planning
Digital safety is part of personal safety.
Technology can be used to harass, monitor or control someone. Accounts, shared devices and location information may need to be considered in a safety plan. Changes to settings or access can sometimes increase risk if the person using abuse notices them; specialist advice can help someone consider what is safest for their situation.
Closing a page does not erase a visit from browser history. Online information should be accessed in a way that takes the person’s own circumstances into account.
Read more: eSafety Commissioner — online safety checklist
Read more: NSW Communities and Justice — online and device safety
Legal protection is one part of a wider response.
Police and courts have roles in responding to violence and providing legal protection. Orders can place enforceable conditions on the person using violence. The legal processes, terminology and conditions depend on the jurisdiction and the circumstances. A specialist legal service can explain what applies to an individual situation.
An Olo profile or platform status is not a court order and does not determine anyone’s legal rights or obligations.
Read more: Queensland Police — police responses and protection orders
Read more: Magistrates’ Court of Victoria — family violence intervention orders
SUPPORT & CONNECTION
Your circumstances.
Your support needs.
Support can include specialist family violence assistance, counselling, accommodation, legal advice and help with children’s wellbeing. Available options and eligibility vary. Services listed by government and specialist organisations can help people explore what is available.
Needs can differ with age, disability, language, culture, sexuality, gender and location. Victorian guidance includes services for Aboriginal people and families, migrant and refugee women, LGBTIQ+ people, older people, children and male victim-survivors. Respectful support should take these differences seriously.
Read more: Victorian Government — statewide family violence support services
Domestic Violence NSW is a peak body that advocates with victim-survivors and specialist services; it does not provide direct domestic violence support. Its website links to services and further information.
Read more: Domestic Violence NSW — mission and advocacy
Read more: Domestic Violence NSW — help and support directory
Explore information at your own pace.
These external websites provide information about support, safety and legal options. Olo does not operate these services, and listing them does not imply an endorsement or partnership.
Queensland Police: domestic and family violence ↗NSW Communities and Justice: information and support ↗Victorian Government: support services ↗Domestic Violence NSW: service directory ↗OLO’S PERSPECTIVE
The person comes first.
The platform serves that purpose.
These are the principles that guide Olo’s purpose. They are goals for our work, not promises that technology can prevent harm.
Support dignity and choice.
Our aim is to support understanding and personal agency. Technology should be considered in the context of a person’s safety and circumstances, with respect for their privacy and independence.
Keep the wider picture in view.
Olo’s purpose sits alongside the work of trusted people and specialist services. A platform cannot replace professional risk assessment, safety planning, legal advice, counselling or emergency assistance. It cannot guarantee safety.
OUR PURPOSE, SIMPLY
Your dignity matters.
Your future matters.
The responsibility for abuse belongs to the person using it.
The focus of Olo is the person who needs protection.