Coercive Control

On 1 July 2024 the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Coercive Control) Act 2022 No 65 came into effect in NSW.

Coercive control has been strongly linked to intimate partner homicide. The NSW Domestic Violence Death Review Team found that in 97% of intimate partner domestic violence homicides cases, the victim had experienced coercive and controlling behaviours before being killed.

The Act makes coercive control in current and former intimate partner relationships a criminal offence, punishable by up to 7 years in prison. The offence occurs when an adult engages in a ‘course of conduct’ of abusive behaviour that is intended to coerce or control the other person.

The Act does not define “coerce” or “control”. It defines “abusive behaviour” to include “behaviour that consists of or involves coercion or control of the person” (54F(1)b).

An example given in the Act is “making unreasonable demands about how a person exercises the person’s personal, social or sexual autonomy and making threats of negative consequences for failing to comply with the demands”. So, for example, if you threaten to leave your partner because she has sex with other men you are committing a criminal offence and could go to jail.

A 2021 article in the Canberra Law Review article makes the important point that “behaviours of coercive control appear innocuous to outsiders, particularly when viewed beyond the context of the relationship.” This suggests that the only reliable evidence for successful prosecution of the crime is the testimony of the complainant. She does not need to identify a specific threat. Her testimony that “he wanted me to do this thing and I felt like I had to” is sufficient.

The criminalisation of coercive control continues around Australia. In March 2024 Queensland passed similar legislation for which the maximum penalty is 14 years in prison. An example of coercive control on the Queensland government website is “he prefers you to stay home with him”.