Controlling what a partner wears and limiting their access to money will become a crime in Queensland under new laws proposed to crack down on domestic violence.
On Wednesday morning,Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced a taskforce charged with drawing up legislation to criminalise coercive control.
Known asintimate terrorism,coercive control is a pattern of emotional abuse that can be a precursor to physical violence.
The taskforce will be headed by former Court of Appeal judge Margaret McMurdo,who led the“Lawyer X” Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants.
The murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children – Aaliyah,Laianah,and Trey – in Brisbane’s south on February 19,2020,drew attention to coercive control.
Friday marks one year since the 31-year-old mother and her three young children were ambushed on their drive to school,doused in petrol and set alight by Ms Clarke’s estranged husband.
The children died in the car and Ms Clarke succumbed to her injuries in hospital later that day.
Their attacker,Rowan Baxter,died from self-inflicted wounds near the scene.
At the time of the murders,Baxter was due to appear in court on domestic violence charges after he assaulted Ms Clarke andkidnapped their daughter on Boxing Day 2019.