Login
National push to criminalise coercive control gives victims strength
Domestic abuse may start featuring more heavily in separation proceedings as more victims of coercive control come forward, according to a leading Sydney family lawyer.
Lauren Croft
Laura Donnelly, director of Holmes Donnelly & Co Solicitors, said that the increasing number of clients in family law cases reporting to be victims of coercive control could be the result of a growing national push to criminalise the abuse.
“It is a big shift for victims who previously may have kept the abuse private or not even recognised it was happening,” Ms Donnelly said.
“However, should this growing recognition continue to rise, it will likely impact the makeup of many final orders, particularly in relation to parenting arrangements.”
Tasmania is currently the only Australian state or territory that has criminalised elements of coercive behaviour. However, South Australia and NSW are considering similar moves and Queensland recently announced the formation of an independent coercive control taskforce. In the 2021 budget, NSW also announced an injection of almost half a billion dollars in funding to strengthen the family law system.
Ms Donnelly said coercive control behaviour has been difficult to establish previously as examples considered in isolation might be dismissed as being misinterpreted or melodramatic.
“Historically, clients, who may be victims of coercive control, have said things like ‘but he’s never hit me’. Now they are identifying the patterns of other forms of abuse in their own relationships and are more openly putting them on the table,” she said.
“Behaviours like ongoing and consistent threats, intimidation and humiliation. Or unreasonably restricting access to and monitoring communication, constant ‘put downs’ and undermining relationships with children and extended family and friends.
“This time around victims seem newly-educated and emboldened and perhaps want to make the perpetrator recognise their behaviour and the impact it has on relationships and family dynamics.”
Lauren Croft
Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.
