Australia’s attorneys-general have agreed to create a national plan to address coercive control as the government ramps up action to reduce domestic and family violence.
Coercive control refers to “the pattern of abusive behaviour designed to create power and dominance over another person or persons”.
This can look like controlling what someone wears, who they see or their access to money, tracking their location, and can often lead to physical violence.
State and territory attorneys-general met with their federal counterpart Mark Dreyfus on Friday to create a “national understanding” of coercive control which could eventually filter down to laws and legislation criminalising the behaviour.
It comes after vast calls for legislative reform to coercive control laws in particular after the murder of Brisbane woman Hannah Clarke and her children by Clarke’s estranged husband.
Clarke’s parents Sue and Lloyd told Today the national plan is a step in the right direction and is a “no brainer”.
“We have been hoping for this quite a long time for it to go national. For them to actually sit down and collaborate together and all states get onboard,” Mr Clarke said.
Ms Clarke added: “I am pleased to see the conversation is going on about it and people are talking about it. I am shocked people aren’t aware of what the flags are in a coercive relationship, I think we need a lot of education.”
The attorneys-general meeting resulted in an endorsement of a consultation draft of National Principles to Address Coercive Control, the first of its kind in Australia.
“This shared understanding is vital for greater community awareness and will be an important tool in improving the safety of women and children,” Dreyfus’ office said in a statement.
The draft includes a national definition of:
- What coercive control is and its impacts
- The importance of coordinated approaches when responding to incidents of coercive control and educating the community
- “Concerns” about the misidentification of victim-survivors as perpetrators of family and domestic violence, in particular for First Nations women
The national principles are set to be approved by 2023.
The group also agreed to review the definition of consent and work towards updating legislation in relation to stealthing, which is when a person removes a condom without the other person’s consent.
