Laws to combat domestic violence

THE state government will criminalise coercive control behaviour, the tragic outcome of which was seen in Ricky James Cowan’s 2016 murder of Crystal Ratcliffe, as part of a major $363m overhaul of domestic and family violence laws and practices.

The reforms will include the introduction of a bill to criminalise coercive control before the end of the year.

Coercive control is the most common factor leading up to intimate partner homicide.

It includes isolating a partner from family and friends, monitoring their movements, controlling access to money and psychological and emotional manipulation.

The package of reforms to address the problem includes a community education campaign to recognise it, the expansion of respectful relationship courses and further training for police.

It also includes $106m to improve safety for victims attending court.

Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Minister for Woman and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Shannon Fentiman, said this was a key recommendation of Justice Margaret McMurdo’s Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce’s first report, Hear Her Voice, handed down in December.

“Our systems need to respond better to this unique form of violence and we need to shift our focus from responding to single incidents of violence to the pattern of abusive behaviour that occurs over time,” Ms Fentiman said.

“We will also explore options to improve availability and accessibility of intervention programs for DFV perpetrators. Intervening to help perpetrators change their behaviour is essential to keeping victims safe from violence.

“We will look to continue and expand trials of online perpetrator interventions and programs addressing violence perpetrated by young men against a parent.”

More broadly, the reforms include new laws to recognise, prevent and punish coercive control, including making coercive control a criminal offence, a commission of inquiry into police practices, expansion of the DFV courts, better support for women, a special strategy for First Nations communities, funding for perpetrator programs to change men’s behaviour and stop the cycle of violence, expansion of High-Risk Teams and co-responded models to ensure victims receive a joint response from police and DFV services, and increased respectful relationships education for all Queensland children.

All are the result of Justice McMurdo’s report handed down in December.

The taskforce received more than 700 submissions from women and girls.