Depends on your budget and the level of fear you hold for your safety and unfortunately only you can answer that.
For an AVO it is quite acceptable for you to represent yourself and you just layout the facts and your fears as you know them to the magistrate. If you are nervous about what happens at court you can always go to the courthouse on any day and listen to other people's cases to see what happens. It is probably not as bad or as intimidating as you think
Ring the court first to find out what day they list AVO cases, I think some courts set aside a special court room and specific days for AVOs.