NSW needs to address coercive control, but this rushed law is not the way to do it
Domestic violence advocates are raising concerns at a New South Wales upper house inquiry into coercive control laws. The state is rushing to add an untested new criminal offence which may not best protect victim survivors.
We need to address coercive control, but introducing this criminal offence without amendments and adequate safeguards could end up retraumatising victim survivors and criminalising people who are most in need of protection.
There is a need for significant cultural and systems reform in the police, judiciary and broader community before rushing in criminal laws as multiple women’s organisations and legal specialists have warned at the NSW upper house parliamentary inquiry.
It is not hyperbole to say that coercive control kills, but the government’s rushed new laws seeking to criminalise coercive control have significant flaws, which risk harming the very people they were designed to protect.
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Coercive control is an insidious form of domestic and family violence, involving patterns of behaviour that deny victim survivors autonomy and independence. This can include control over finances, communication and contact. There may or may not be physical abuse or threats.
Domestic violence assaults in NSW have increased annually in the past five years and remain critically underreported, especially in marginalised communities including First Nations, migrant and refugee populations. Redfern Legal Centre’s Financial Abuse Service NSW see this every day.
On average, close to 90 cases of domestic violence got reported at the NSW police force every day last year.
Coercive control laws around the world are still new.
By looking to the experience of other jurisdictions – such as Scotland – that have recently introduced similar laws, we know there is not yet enough evidence to demonstrate how effective these laws are at protecting those experiencing this kind of domestic violence. The issues are highly complex. We want the government to listen to the concerns of experts in the field and victim survivors. A considered, phased approach is needed to prevent risk of harm.
While we welcome the government’s willingness to address this issue and applaud the recognition of financial and economic abuse for the first time in NSW in this draft bill, this legislation won’t achieve its intended outcomes without significant reforms and further consultation.
There is simply not enough time to train 18,000 police officers in an entirely new way of investigating and charging before this offence is introduced in 15 to 18 months’ time. We need accountability frameworks to address systemic racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination. Without this safeguard, women experiencing coercive control are at risk of being misidentified by police as the perpetrator.
Critically, this work needs to be properly funded. While the attorney general has committed $5.6m to police and community education, this is nothing compared to Queensland’s commitment of $363 million. Most importantly, there has been a lack of genuine and robust consultation, especially with the marginalised communities it will most affect. There have only been two public rounds of consultations, which were not accessible to many victim-survivors or First Nations organisations.
Other jurisdictions have taken much more time to deliberate these nuanced issues.
Queensland is taking a four-year phased approach to criminalising coercive control. This will allow time for substantial cultural and systems reform before any new criminal laws are introduced. Even once laws are introduced, we need a well-resourced, independent taskforce to oversee implementation and monitor and evaluate these laws.
If NSW introduces these reforms now, at best this law won’t be used and at worst it will negatively impact First Nations communities and other marginalised groups in NSW.
Domestic and family violence is our biggest social problem. We know it kills women every week. We know it costs our community and our economy too much. We need to take our time, listen carefully to those who are most impacted, and be willing to adapt and learn, to get this right.
Gayatri Nair works in human rights and social justice with a focus on gender. She is currently Policy & Capacity Building Officer at Redfern Legal Centre’s Financial Abuse Service NSW and also National Coordinator of the Economic Abuse Reference Group.