A court may, on finding a person guilty or sentencing them, issue an intervention order as if an application had been made under the Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act 2009 (SA) [Sentencing Act 2017 (SA) s 28]. Although the order is issued at the sentencing stage, it is not a sentence for the purposes of the Sentencing Act [s 28(4)(b)].

Before issuing an intervention order, the court must consider whether it would be counterproductive [s 28(2)]. It would be counterproductive, for example, to issue an order if it would reveal to the defendant the whereabouts of the person the order is intended to protect when they otherwise would not have had this information.

Where a person is found guilty of a sexual offence such as rape, sexual exploitation of a person with a cognitive impairment, indecent assault, or any offence involving sexual exploitation or abuse of a child, the court must consider whether an intervention order should be issued [s 28(5)]. The court must give reasons if it decides not to issue an intervention order in these circumstances. The decision not to issue an intervention order is subject to appeal in the same way that any order made by the court on sentence would be.

An application to vary or revoke an intervention order made under s 28 of the Sentencing Act 2017 (SA) must be made using the prescribed forms (Form 172C Interlocutory Application to Vary or Revoke Order - Intervention Order, and Form 7 Affidavit) and by seeking the necessary leave of the court [Joint Criminal Rules 2022 (SA) rr 167.1 - 167.7].