POLICE must be given the power to arrest suspects on the spot to issue them with apprehended domestic violence orders, according to a multi-party report.

A NSW upper house committee has called for the Crimes Act to be toughened to better protect victims of domestic abuse. The committee said the law should allow police to arrest and detain aggressors immediately. It should also allow third parties to apply for orders on behalf of someone who is physically or mentally impaired.

Another one of the 84 recommendations urges the government to allow police ranked sergeants or above to issue interim ADVOs.

Among the 84 recommendations delivered to the NSW government yesterday five ask for the Act to be toughened.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch told the inquiry that when police were about to apply for a provisional AVO, they could not arrest the suspected aggressor unless he refused to stay put until the order is served.

Upper House Labor MP Helen Westwood said in many cases the person fled by the time officers returned. "This change would give police the power to serve the AVO and the conditions would apply immediately," she said.

Mr Murdoch said this would improve safety for victims of domestic violence.

"We would also argue that having the ability to remove the perpetrator from the home, if that is where the incident has occurred, gives time for the whole situation to de-escalate, gets the perpetrator out of the place and cools his heels at the police station for as long as it takes to make an application for the order, do the paperwork and give it to him," he said. "He still gets his day in court."

In a written submission to the inquiry NSW Police said there was a risk of further violence and property damage in the time it took police to do the paperwork.

The Police Association argued it would not be an excessive deprivation of liberty, using the analogy that a similar situation applied to driver breath testing - a person with a positive reading was taken to a police station for another test.

Last year there were 26,808 reported domestic violence cases in NSW but the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research said less than half of cases were reported.

In Sydney, Campbelltown has the highest recorded rates of domestic violence per capita, followed by Blacktown, Penrith, Wyong and Holroyd.

Minister for Women Pru Goward, who ordered the inquiry last year, said the government would develop a new policy in response to the report by next year.

Originally published as Call for on-the-spot violence orders