Following the sentence at the Ballarat Magistrates Court on Wednesday, Jeremy Riley said, "I didn't even do anything", and appealed the court's decision.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Helen Farmer said Riley, 39, and his partner were at home having dinner on March 21 when he accused her of giving his soft drink cans to other males.

She said Riley threw a chip at his partner before he grabbed her by the neck, causing a scratch, and threw a take-away food box at her.

An intervention order made on March 22 banned Riley from being five metres near his partner, but four days later police saw the pair at a Redan venue.

Riley, a father-of-one, told police the unlawful assault occurred "just to get her to stop, settle down".

The court was told Riley and his partner remained in a relationship and are expecting a child at the end of the year.

Magistrate Ron Saines said there were a number of factors to consider in sentencing.

"The fact that (the victim) is continuing her relationship with you and may have forgiven you doesn't assist you one bit in sentencing," Mr Saines said.

"Domestic violence is a problem that exists in far too many relationships in our community. Part of it being a problem is it is forgiven in the home frequently and that creates a cycle of violence."

The magistrate said the cycle included the incident, a level of forgiveness and no violence before it started again.

Defence barrister Ray Alexander urged the court to consider a lengthy community corrections order, including supervision, which he said would benefit his client.

He said Riley and his partner had re-established their relationship and were expecting a child at the end of the year.

Mr Alexander said Riley's offending occurred after he became jealous when he assumed his partner had given the soft drink cans to other men.

"It was that green-eyed monster jealousy that precipitated the events and gave rise to the offending," Mr Alexander said.

But the magistrate said general deterrence was fundamentally important in domestic violence cases.

"Domestic violence has been at the forefront at community concern for decades," Mr Saines said.

The court was told Riley's offending against his partner occurred soon after a string of offences in 2016 and 2017 where he was jailed.

Riley was jailed for one month for the unlawful assault and 14 days for breaching the intervention order, which will run concurrently with the one month jail sentence.

When released from jail, he will be placed on a 12-month community corrections order.

Riley immediately appealed the sentence and was granted appeal bail. He pleaded guilty to unlawful assault and breaching an intervention order.

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