Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has warned the scourge of coercive control is a widespread problem throughout the nation as he begins work with his state and territory counterparts to establish a nationally consistent response to the psychological abuse.
The nation’s chief law officers met on Friday to agree to a draft statement of principles, which will now go out for consultation, on the best way to recognize the abusive pattern of behavior which is steadily gathering more attention.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has warned coercive control is a widespread problem.Credit:eddie jim
They also agreed to adopt more consistent measures to allow the criminal justice system to better respond to sexual assault in response to calls by former Australian of the Year Grace Tame.
Coercive control is generally recognized as an abusive pattern of behavior which includes controlling what someone wears, limiting access to money, tracking their location, controlling whom they see, and persistent texting. It can be a precursor to physical violence.
The awareness of coercive control has grown significantly since the murder of Hannah Clarke and her three young children by her estranged husband, Rowan Baxter, in Brisbane in 2020. While Baxter had not previously been physically violent, he had subjected Clarke to escalating forms of controlling and possessive behaviour.
Clarke’s father, Lloyd, and his wife, Sue, have spearheaded a campaign to criminalize coercive control in Queensland, this week saying it was “fantastic” that the issue was being discussed at a national level because it was poorly understood.
Dreyfus said on Saturday that the tragic death of Clarke and her children was “absolutely a catalyst” for action to be taken on the development of a nationally consistent approach.
“But sadly, no one should think that the tragedy that occurred with Hannah Clarke and her children was an isolated incident and that’s, of course, why we are taking this collective action,” he said.
“It’s not, sadly, an isolated incident. We know that coercive control is a widespread problem. We know that we need to do more to recognize this problem.”