Coercive Control
What is Coercive Control?
The following definition is provided by the Australian Attorney-General's Department:
"Coercive control involves perpetrators using patterns of abusive behaviours over time in a way that creates fear and denies liberty and autonomy."
Australian Attorney-General's Department – Coercive Control Information
While coercive control is most commonly discussed within the context of intimate partner and family relationships, I believe it is a far more pervasive and systemic issue that extends beyond the family home and into many areas of society.
Public awareness of coercive control has grown significantly in recent years, particularly following the tragic deaths of Hannah Clarke and her three children in February 2020. Since then, Australia has seen increasing recognition of coercive control within legislation and public policy discussions. Known as Hannah's Law, the Criminal Law (Coercive Control and Affirmative Consent) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 criminalises coercive control as a standalone offence in Queensland. Other Australian states and territories have adopted varying legislative approaches to recognising and addressing coercive control within their domestic and family violence frameworks. However, there is often far less discussion about how these dynamics develop, become normalised and are sometimes reinforced by the very systems intended to protect vulnerable people.
Following the end of my own 22-year relationship and through what unfolded for both myself and my two daughters in the years that followed, I began recognising similar patterns of behaviour emerging not only in personal relationships, but also within public and private institutions and systems including family law processes, workplaces, educational settings, government at local, state and federal level and sometimes even within families and communities themselves.
As the saying goes, "once you see it, you can't unsee it."
Coercive and controlling dynamics can exist wherever there are significant imbalances of power. Even where individuals are not directly participating in harmful behaviour, systems can be sustained by silence, fear, bystander inaction or institutional self-preservation. This can unintentionally empower individuals, groups or institutions while perpetuating ongoing harm to those affected.
Recognising these patterns is not about assigning blame. It is about increasing awareness, encouraging accountability and creating systems and communities that support autonomy, dignity and genuine safety for everyone.
Whilst coercive control legislation currently focuses primarily on intimate partner and family relationships, I believe coercive and controlling dynamics can also emerge within broader social systems wherever there are significant imbalances of power and limited accountability. It has become my mission to bring this wider conversation into public awareness.
