- Systemic and legal changes to address family and
domestic violence behaviours
- Training and education campaigns as part of
whole-of-Government response
- Phased approach to criminalisation of coercive
control
The Cook Government is
taking further action against family and domestic violence by introducing key
reforms to address the pattern of behaviours known as coercive control.
Coercive control is one
of the more insidious forms of family and domestic violence, which describes a
pattern of controlling behaviours such as verbal or emotional abuse,
intimidation, financial abuse, isolation, and manipulation, which often result
in a loss of confidence, a loss of autonomy in the victim-survivors, and
creates a sense of fear.
The Cook Government will
introduce a range of systemic and legislative reforms in a phased approach designed
to prevent coercive control, protect, and support victim-survivors, as well as hold
perpetrators accountable.
The reforms being
immediately introduced to address coercive control include:
- Amending the Restraining Orders Act 1997
to better reflect the patterned nature of coercive control behaviours, and
their cumulative effect;
- Improving the application process for family
violence restraining orders, and changing the way breaches are dealt with to
better recognise patterns of behaviour;
- Developing tools to help victim-survivors gather
and document evidence;
- Providing specific training on coercive control for
police officers and other justice professionals;
- Improving information sharing and risk
assessment tools; and
- Commissioning community education campaigns to
increase awareness and understanding.
The Government will take
a phased approach to criminalisation, commencing with systemic reform and
education and training, along with ensuring that our system is able to respond
appropriately, and deliver positive outcomes for victim-survivors before a
standalone offence for coercive control is introduced.
These initiatives follow
extensive community and stakeholder consultations about legal responses for
coercive control, done by the Office of the Commissioner for Victims of Crime.
The Consultation Outcomes Report has been published today: Commissioner
for Victims of Crime (www.wa.gov.au)
Comments attributed to Attorney General John Quigley:
"We need to make sure that we have in place a justice system which
can respond effectively and appropriately to these ongoing patterns of
behaviour.
"The
proposed amendments to the Restraining Orders Act 1997 will make it
easier for victim-survivors to obtain a restraining order, by amending the
definition of 'family violence' to include specific reference to coercive
control, the patterned nature of these behaviours and their cumulative impact.
"A phased approach to criminalisation allows the Government to
ensure that our responses to coercive control will protect victim-survivors,
not harm them.
"The result of our reforms should be a fairer system based on
prevention, protection and prosecution."
Comments attributed to Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence
Minister Sabine Winton:
"While physical forms of
family and domestic violence are easily recognised and identified, coercive
control is subtle and much harder to identify. It can be things like having
passwords to their partner's phone, convincing them to give up activities they
used to enjoy doing, or encouraging them to stop seeing certain friends.
"We know coercive
controlling behaviour is not only a reliable predictor of future family and domestic
violence, but that it also often happening alongside domestic violence.
"Around half of women who
have experienced coercive controlling behaviours also report experiencing
physical abuse in the same relationship.
"Prevention must be the main priority. Everyone in the community
needs to be aware of this behaviour - to know what it looks like and be able to
respond when we see it happening to our family or friends.
"This is why we are funding community education and awareness
campaigns, so that people can see the red flags early."
Comments attributed to Women's Interests Minister Sue Ellery:
"Coercive
control is an insidious and unrelenting form of family violence which our
Government is determined to stamp out.
"The
coercive control report outlines a way forward to stop an often invisible form of family violence
and provide victim-survivors with the supports that they need.
"The
launch of community education campaigns will also play a crucial role in
raising awareness of this issue."
