Will criminalising coercive control make a difference in the fight against domestic violence?

Australia Broadcast Center

25-05-2025

It often begins with controlling behaviour creating fear, intimidation and isolation.
Australia's domestic violence scourge has already claimed the lives of 18 women and several children this year.
At its core is coercive control which, according to one NSW review, played a role in almost 100 per cent of intimate partner murders over 10 years.
It's now a standalone criminal offence in two Australian states, after coming into effect in Queensland today.
But will it be enough to end the violence when the next generation is being barraged with toxic online influences?
Don't wear pink
Students at Whites Hill State College wear pink in honour of their former school captain Hannah Clarke. ( ABC News: Josh Baker )
It may look like a regular free dress day at Whites Hill State College in Brisbane's inner city suburb of Camp Hill.
Hannah Clarke was told by her husband she couldn't wear pink. ( ABC News: Mark Leonardi )
But these students are wearing pink in honour of a former school captain, Hannah Clarke.
It's the colour her estranged husband forbid her from wearing because it was "childish".
Just streets away from the school, a horrific tragedy unfolded in February 2020.
Wide shot aerial of where the tragedy unfolded.
Ms Clarke and her three children — Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey — were murdered by her former partner Rowan Baxter.
He ambushed them on the morning school run, doused them in petrol and set them alight.
The young children died in the car, while Ms Clarke later died in hospital from her injuries.
Hannah Clarke and her three children all perished in the fire.
Their deaths put a spotlight on coercive control and again sparked a national conversation around domestic violence.
"He would go through her phone, he would go through her handbag, he would ask the children 'who did mummy talk to today?', 'what did mummy do?'" Hannah's mother recounts.
"He would stop her being friends with her close friends, and even her brother."
Since the murders, her parents, Sue and Lloyd Clarke, have become fierce advocates for law reform — calling for the behaviour to be criminalised.
Sue and Lloyd Clarke have been fierce advocates for criminalising coercive control. ( ABC News: Mark Leonardi )
But they've also gone a step further to guide the next generation.
"I think education is the key to break the cycle," Mrs Clarke says.
Their foundation, Small Steps 4 Hannah, is now running a respectful relationships program for high schoolers across the country.
Tackling toxic masculinity
"How many intimate partners should a man have throughout his lifetime?"
It's a question HALT program facilitator Dave Kramer asks a group of grade 12 students.
HALT program facilitator Dave Kramer speaking to children at Hannah Clark's former school. ( ABC News: Mark Leonardi )
"75," answers one student as others laugh.
"There shouldn't be expectations," is another answer.
Mr Kramer asks the students another question — "What sort of jobs should a man have?"
The answers: diesel mechanic, CEO, tradie, finance, business, construction.
These sessions are designed to challenge attitudes and stereotypes in order to prevent violence and control in relationships.
Mr Kramer is a behavioural scientist and was close friends with Ms Clarke, with the pair training at the gym together and competing in CrossFit competitions.
"What surprised me in the beginning was what I thought I knew versus what's really happening with young people," he says.
The HALT program is designed to challenge attitudes and stereotypes in young males. ( ABC News: Mark Leonardi )
Mr Kramer says young boys face significant barriers to knowing how to contribute to safe relationships. ( ABC News: Mark Leonardi )
"What I thought I knew was that young people don't know what to do, they don't know how to contribute to safe and respectful relationships.
"What I found out is they do, but there are significant barriers … like social media and pornography.
"It's the kinds of things they consume online that really influence who they think they're supposed to be in the context of their relationships.
"And the absence of these conversations is really hurting young people."
Dave Kramer says social media and pornography influence young people in who they become. ( ABC News: Mark Leonardi )
Mr Kramer says adolescents are exposed to content on many different social media platforms.
A similar message is constantly pushed by an algorithm.
He says the damaging content is often a mix of messages about being "strong and successful" whilst also making young boys feel inadequate and like they need to "dominate in every relationship".
"What we try and do is help them recognise when they're seeing those types of influencers, what they're saying and how they can challenge it," he says.
"Not only within themselves but also within their peer groups."
Are you scared of me?
Laura — not her real name — was psychologically, physically and financially abused by her ex-husband for years.
After initially rejecting his advances, they went on a date and she became enamoured by his "willpower, charm and wit".
Laura says she was psychologically, physically and financially abused by her ex-husband for years. ( ABC News: Mark Leonardi )
The relationship moved quickly — she was pregnant within six months and the pair were living together with plans to get married.
"I was love bombed from the start," she says.
"When I look back there were definitely some little flags that I completely ignored.
"He really quite heavily encouraged me to come off my birth control.
"He explained the hormones weren't good for me and we should start a family and that he loved me."
Laura's experience is typical of coercive control behaviour — an ongoing pattern of abuse that can be physical as well as emotional or financial.
The intention is to hurt, humiliate, isolate, frighten or threaten another person in order to control or dominate them.
There's been growing calls for it to be criminalised across the country, with research suggesting that women and children are most at risk of serious harm and homicide after a separation, when the perpetrator feels a loss of control.
NSW and Queensland have now made it a standalone offence, with Queensland's laws only coming into effect today.
Other jurisdictions are either looking at making it illegal or have aspects of coercive control outlawed under more general family violence legislation.
For Laura, her partner became jealous of male work colleagues, created tension with her mother, and eventually stopped her from seeing friends.
His behaviour escalated to controlling her finances, what music she listened to, the TV shows she watched and the clothes she wore.
One day he said he "mistakenly" bought a smart watch in a colour he didn't like.
He told Laura to wear it and he'd buy another. But his intentions were far more sinister.
"He would monitor my heart rate on a daily basis and my sleep activity," she says.
"If my heart rate had changed in the middle of the night, or if I'd been up to help my son, he would question me.
Laura says her partner monitored her smart watch. ( ABC News: Mark Leonardi )
"He accused me of sleeping with another man, asking where I'd been, what had I been doing.
"If my heart rate was high he would ask — 'Are you scared of me? Is it high because you're scared?'"
This controlling behaviour took place alongside sexual and physical abuse, where Laura would be strangled and assaulted during arguments and forced into sex.
"There was a lot of talk about me being the wife, that I must submit to this person," she says.
After years of suffering abuse, the incident that made Laura leave for good was when her ex threatened to shoot her in front of her daughter.
"He didn't have a gun but he threatened to shoot me in the face and my six-year-old was standing in front of me and she looked up and said, 'It's time to go'," she says.
"It was my daughter's strength really and the fact that months leading up to that he became more unhinged."
Laura says her daughter's strength helped her leave her partner's abusive behaviour. ( ABC News: Mark Leonardi )
Laura has welcomed coercive control as a standalone offence, but acknowledges gathering evidence will be hard. ( ABC News: Mark Leonardi )
While Laura has welcomed coercive control as a standalone offence, she acknowledges gathering evidence will be hard.
"I think it will be incredibly hard to capture that," she says.
"I'm not quite sure how they're going to do it.
"I do know firsthand how hard it is to prove physical offences but I do think as a society we need the police, the courts, organisations, victims and their families all working together.
"It will mean that the pattern of behaviour that starts very early on, that graduates into physical violence, can be recognised and acknowledged and we can be validated for the things we've been through."
How effective is criminalisation?
Coercive control was criminalised in NSW last July, attracting a maximum penalty of up to seven years in jail.
It applies to current and former intimate partner relationships but the offence in Queensland also applies to family members and unpaid carers.
Queensland also has a harsher maximum penalty, which is up to 14 years' imprisonment.
In NSW, a driving factor in introducing the laws was strong links to intimate partner homicide.
The state's Domestic Violence Death Review Team found in 97 per cent of intimate partner domestic violence homicides cases, the victim had experienced coercive and controlling behaviours before being killed.
Since the new laws were introduced six months ago, data gathered by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research found 157 incidents were recorded between July and December 2024.
Of those, just three resulted in a coercive control charge being laid against three men.
One charge was later withdrawn by the prosecution, one charge was proven and resulted in an Intensive Correction Order, and the other charge remains before the court.
Out of the other 154 incidents reported — 58 per cent resulted in no charges while 40 per cent resulted in other charges being laid.
The most common were intimidation or stalking, DV assault, and property damage offences.
Professor Silke Meyer says the conviction rate for coercive control is relatively low both here and overseas. ( ABC News: Mark Leonardi )
Griffith University criminologist and professor of social work, Silke Meyer, says the conviction rate for coercive control is relatively low both in Australia and overseas.
"I think the question is, how do we define success?
"We've seen reporting behaviour so I think there's success in that victim-survivors feel confident in reporting to police coercive controlling behaviours.
"If we say success is the actual criminalisation and the criminal justice pathway, then I would say the success has been limited."
Professor Meyer says there's about a one per cent conviction rate for coercive control in England, Wales and Scotland, which have led the way in criminalising controlling behaviour.
Data from the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics show there were 45,310 offences of coercive control recorded by police in England and Wales in the year ending March 2024.
There were 1,002 defendant proceedings in court and 745 convictions of controlling or coercive behaviour reported in the latest data release, which only has figures to December 2023.
Professor Meyer says there isn't evidence that tougher penalties for domestic and family violence offences will act as a deterrent.
"I think a good example in Queensland is the increased penalties in relation to protection order breaches," she says.
"And we haven't seen a decrease in domestic violence and we haven't seen a decrease in protection order breaches.
"I would question whether it can have a deterrent effect, but I think it can have other positive effects, including hopefully a more holistic and coordinated service system response to victim-survivors."
Breaking the cycle
Women's Legal Service Queensland CEO Nadia Bromley says the laws have brought the issue to light.
Nadia Bromley says education is critical. ( ABC News: Mark Leonardi )
"As much as the law being enforced is important, it existing is a good way to start conversations, to educate the community, and to have more awareness about the risks associated with coercive control.
"I think there are a number of challenges — it is a very serious offence, so it will be interesting to see whether the prosecution rates are what we expect.
"We're also alert to the issue of misidentification and seeing the wrong people prosecuted.
"This offence is designed to protect women, not misidentify them and prosecute them and criminalise them further."
National conversations about consent, sexual assault and domestic violence have led to improvements in respectful relationship education across public and private schools.
Hannah Clarke's parents hope the program will help break the cycle of control for future generations. ( ABC News: Mark Leonardi )
Balloons spelling out HALT for the special assembly at Hannah Clarke's school. ( ABC News: Josh Baker )
Hannah Clarke's parents watching the assembly. ( ABC News: Josh Baker )
Sitting centrestage, Mr and Mrs Clarke are at the special school assembly, with gold coin donations going towards their foundation.
"[Hannah] loved this school and she loved being school captain," Ms Clarke remembers fondly.
"[Children] are our future," Mr Clarke adds. "We need to get them educated on the red flags but also their feelings, their social media, and boys being able to release their feelings."
Hannah Clarke was school and house captain, and loved sports.
Mr Kramer hopes increased awareness and changing the attitudes of young people will make a difference.
"This program is at the beginning of the line — what does disrespect look like in the context of any kind of relationship?"
"And how do we ensure that these forms of disrespect don't escalate to forms of violence and control?
"The way it works for us in the HALT program is to have those conversations earlier, to make sure young people have the skills they need to have safe conversations and relationships.
"And hopefully we get to a point that no one actually needs a law around coercive control."
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