Queensland has recently enacted legislation to criminalise coercive control. The new laws entail a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail, yet the criminalisation is set to take effect in 2025.
Coercive control includes a range of behaviours such as isolation, intimidation, sexual coercion, and cyberstalking.
Survivors often characterise this form of abuse as “intimate terrorism” or feeling as though they are “living in torture.”
NSW took the lead in 2022 by passing laws to establish coercive control as a standalone offence, slated to be effective from July of this year.
Tasmania, on the other hand, has prohibited economic and emotional abuse or intimidation for two decades under the Family Violence Act 2004.
Western Australia is currently in the initial phases of consultation, while the Australian Capital Territory government is observing developments in other jurisdictions.
With reports from abc.net.au
