Lloyd Clarke: One missing piece to coercive control puzzle

Government has acted, the police are listening and there are more resources on the way. But there is one more piece of the puzzle to ensure we can fight coercive control, writes Hannah Clarke’s father Lloyd.

My wife Sue and I belong to a strange society – one that not many people know about, and one that no-one would ever want to join.

On Tuesday, the members of our society gathered in the public gallery at state parliament – the families of Allison Baden-Clay, Kelly Wilkinson, Doreen Langham and too many other women whose lives have been taken by people who claimed to love them.

We know each other from many such gatherings, and we know each other’s stories through bitter experience.

Lloyd and Sue Clarke at Queensland’s Parliament House on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

Over the past decade, the members of this society have all received the same life-shattering news, and have all embarked on the same journey looking for justice. We were there on Tuesday to hear Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announce that Queensland would criminalise coercive control – that insidious practice of mental domination that so often leads to physical harm, including murder.

On behalf of Hannah, Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey, we welcome this news, as well as the commitment to additional resourcing for our hardworking frontline police. We welcome the promised education for young Queenslanders about coercive control and what strong, positive relationships should be.

Hannah Clarke and her children Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey, who were killed in 2020.

Queensland is now leading the nation, and the Small Steps 4 Hannah Foundation will now turn our efforts to ensuring other states follow.

But there is one more piece of the puzzle. Government has acted, the police are listening and there are more resources on the way. It’s now up to the rest of us – everyday Queenslanders.

Coercive control begins as very minor actions – checking someone’s phone or snooping on where they are. Then telling them where they can go and who they can see, what they can wear, and who they can talk to.

For the families in our society, these were the missed warning signs. So as the people of Queensland, we need to see those signs – in our family members, in our friends and maybe even in ourselves.

And when we see them, we need to speak up. We need to get help. We can’t keep on ignoring the signs and turning a blind eye to coercive control.

Everyone needs to join the fight. Our secret society doesn’t need any more members.

Lloyd Clarke is co-founder of the Small Steps 4 Hannah Foundation along with his wife Sue and son Nat