Eru Morete, 22, was sentenced to one year behind bars after being found guilty of assaulting his pregnant girlfriend, but after a ruling on Thursday he could serve part of his sentence at home.
The move has angered domestic violence support groups who say judges and parole boards will have blood on their hands if home detention prisoners reoffend.
The man is alleged to have knocked the 36-week pregnant woman to the ground and threatened her with a knife, causing her to go into premature labour.
He then refused to telephone for an ambulance, although she screamed for help.
Brian Gardner, the national manager of the National Network of Stopping Violence Services, said the man should never have been allowed to apply for home detention.
"If he gets home detention his partner will effectively be his jailer," he said.
Home detention orders are only served with the consent of the woman involved, but Sheryl Hann, the policy research adviser of the National Collective of Independent Women's Refuges, said victims might agree because they were fearful of retaliation.
"Victims feel tremendous guilt after their partner has been arrested and convicted," she said.
"The reality of the violence fades and they feel hopeful that things will be different but this is not borne by statistics. We know that when there is a serious assault like this there has usually been a history of abuse and it's not likely to change without intense intervention.
"Judges need to realise that domestic violence is a life and death situation and that home detention should never be allowed under any circumstances."
Applications are assessed by parole boards and Hann said campaign groups lobbied the Government this year to ban domestic violence offenders requesting home detention.
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