‘Coercive Control’ Outlawed in New South Wales, Australia

A woman holds a protest sign calling for action against domestic violence in Hyde Park during the Sydney International Women's Day march in Sydney, Australia, on March 7, 2020. Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

“Coercive control” has now been defined as an offence under a new law being passed in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW).

Dubbed the Coercive and Controlling Behaviour Bill 2020, the legislation creates an offence for “violent, menacing or intimidating” behaviour in a domestic relationship.

It describes coercive control as isolating, controlling, frightening, humiliating, and causing physical or psychological harm to the other person within a relationship, as well as third parties, property, or even a companion animal.

The standalone offence applies to current or former partner relationships, and will not be retroactive.

There will be an implementation period of at least 14 months before the laws come into force, to allow time for training, resourcing, education, and raising community awareness.

The minister for women Bronnie Taylor, along with Attorney-General Mark Speakman, said NSW will be the first jurisdiction to have standalone coercive control legislation.

“Coercive control is a form of domestic abuse that involves patterns of behaviour that have the cumulative effect of denying victim-survivors their autonomy and independence,” Speakman said in a press release.

“Our community has grieved with the families of too many domestic violence homicide victims,” he added.

“This bill is about supporting victim-survivors held hostage in their own homes and in their own lives by domestic terrorism.”

Billions Already Spent On Trying to Reduce Domestic Violence

The announcement comes a month after the federal government released a national plan to end violence against women and children, having spent A$3 billion (US$2 billion) over the past decade along with funding from state governments, community groups, and businesses.

However, men’s advocate Bettina Arndt said domestic violence rates had not been reduced, and further warned about false allegations against men.

Arndt pointed to a case in the NSW court in 2022 in which a Sydney woman falsely accused her ex-husband of rape, domestic violence, and assault after they divorced. The man spent 32 days in jail and paid over $350,000 (US$260,000) in legal costs before the judge ruled that the wife’s case against the man was “most unsatisfactory.”

Ardnt wrote in an op-ed on The Epoch Times that it was quite a “high bar to prove someone has intentionally lied or falsified evidence,” noting that it was also difficult to find such a person guilty of malicious behaviour.

“Trust in our law depends on an assumption of fair treatment. We need to know that police and prosecutors aren’t there just to act for one side, but to ensure consequences for wrongdoing—that includes maliciously using false allegations to weaponise the legal system against the object of their grievance.”

On average, 4.8 percent of Australian women have experienced partner emotional abuse since the age 15, compared to 4.2 percent of men, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2022.