Queensland has committed to criminalising coercive control by 2023, making it one of the first states in Australia to make the intimate abuse an individual offence.

The Palaszcuk Government pledged to introduce a Commission of Inquiry to probe police responses to domestic and family violence. This latest legislation follows similar law reforms in the UK back in 2015, and has been on the state’s agenda since the murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children in 2020. However women advocates are concerned the new laws could increase detention rates of vulnerable groups.

Image: Shutterstock: Image: ChameleonsEye

Produced By: Tahlia Kraefft

Featured In Story: Dr Hannah Boxall, Research Manager, Australian Institute of Criminology

First aired on The Wire, Tuesday 17 May 2022