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 recognised as an abusive pattern of behaviour 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 themurder 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 criminalise 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 recognise this problem.”