The new law will apply when there is not immediately sufficient evidence to arrest a person but police believe the person is a threat to others at the residence.
The police safety order comes into force from July 1.
The "cool-down" period is for a maximum of five days.
Police will have the right to keep the person in custody for the first two hours of the order.
The person against whom the order is issued will have to surrender any firearms, weapons, or firearms licences in their possession and leave the residence, even if they own it.
Southern police district family violence co-ordinator Acting Sergeant Jan Craig, of Dunedin, said the enforced separation would be a "cool-down period" and would provide time for the person at risk to make decisions, including whether they wanted to seek a protection order.
People could be forced to vacate the premises for any period from a few hours to five days, she said.
The decision to issue an order would be made after a risk assessment, generally already carried out by officers attending domestic incidents.
The order would give police the chance to get statements without the presence of the other party.
Police would not need permission of those believed at risk to issue an order.
If enough evidence was gathered for an arrest, the order would be dropped and an arrest made instead.
Only police at a rank equal to or higher than a sergeant would have the authority to issue an order.
Police would not have responsibility for finding a place for the bound person to stay.
However, they would take into consideration situations where it was more practical to move the person(s) at risk to a new location, which the person under the order would not be able to visit.
It was difficult to know how often safety orders would be issued, Sgt Craig said.
Southern police are called to about 30 domestic incidents a week.
In about half of them, no offence is evident.
The new orders have been welcomed by antiviolence campaigners.
Te Whare Pounamu Dunedin Women's Refuge community outreach worker Mandy Durham was not sure what to expect, but believed more work would come to the refuge.
