‘Coercive control’ laws could address family violence

Queensland, NSW, Western Australia and the NT could introduce a new domestic violence criminal offence­ of coercive control.

Women’s Legal Service Queensland chief executive Angela Lynch.

Queensland, NSW, Western Australia and the Northern Territory could introduce a new domestic violence criminal offence­ of “coercive control”, punishing a pattern of behaviour considered by advocates as a “red flag for murder”.

The Women’s Legal Service Queensland is calling for the Palasz­czuk government to lead a national response to domestic violen­ce and review the state’s criminal justice system — ­considering a new offence of coercive control — in the wake of the murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children by her estranged husband, Rowan Baxter.

Coercive control is a pattern of domestic abuse that can involve physical violence, threats and intimidation, degradation and humiliation, isolation from friends, family and work, surveillance, and behaviour regulation.

“It’s a red flag for murder,” Women’s Legal Service Queensland chief executive Angela Lynch said.

“The kind of highly controlling behaviour that was engaged by Rowan Baxter — the tracking, monitoring, stalking and sexual assault — are all hallmarks of an extremely dangerous person and perpetrator.

“The usual criminal law ­approach is to react to domestic violence on an incident-by-incid­ent basis.

“Coercive control would look at a pattern of behaviour.”

Nowhere in Australia has a criminal offence of coercive­ control, but Tasmania has introduced the offences of emotional abuse or intimidation and the ­offence of economic abuse, and has indicated it is open to further family violence provisions.

University of Queensland law school professor Heather Douglas said while she was not averse to coercive control as a criminal offence, she wondered whether resources would be bette­r spent ensuring police were using the current criminal offences properly, charging DVO breaches, and understanding the concept of coercive control.

A Queensland government spokesman left the door open to criminalising coercive control but did not commit to reform.

Scotland is seen as having introduced the gold standard in laws of this kind.

NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman said appropriate laws ­ in this area were an ongoing­ challenge for law enforce­­ment and legal minds.

There were “no immediate plans to introduce coercive control legislation in NSW’’, but he was keen to see how the Scottish laws operated.

WA Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence Minister Simone McGurk said the governm­ent continued to monitor the evaluation of such laws in other jurisdictions and engage with stakeholders on the issue.

In November, the WA ­government introduced to parlia­ment its first specific family violence criminal offence, for persistent family violence, recog­nising a pattern of abuse.

NT Attorney-General Natasha Fyles said her office had sought advice from her department about coercive control.

Additional reporting: Amos Aikman, Rachel Baxendale, Paul Garvey, Matthew Denholm