Charges have been laid after new coercive control laws in effect

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The first report card of the state's coercive control laws is in revealing the new laws have been slow to take effect. There have been almost 300 incidents of coercive control reported to the police. But there have been just nine charges laid and just one conviction since the laws came into effect.

Transcript

00:00Coercive control is a pattern of controlling and abusive behaviour in intimate relationships,

00:07most commonly in the form of harassment and tracking, threats and intimidation, financial

00:13abuse and shaming or humiliation. New data shows there were 297 coercive control incidents reported

00:21to police in the 12 months after the laws came into effect. That's resulted in just nine charges

00:28being laid and only one successful conviction. The majority of victims are women and rates

00:34of coercive control are higher in regional areas, with the central west and far west recording

00:40three times the state average. We always knew that the first year of operation of the law

00:45would be establishing the offence, educating the community and starting to really make

00:51sure that the people coming to police were being heard. At frontline services we've seen

00:57an incredible increase in knowledge from victims in New South Wales. They are identifying

01:03themselves very clearly as being victims of coercive control and not just physical or sexual

01:10abuse. The state government is due to review the coercive control legislation next year and

01:16with almost half of all victims having previously reported domestic violence, experts say there's

01:22a clear need to ensure these laws work as intended.

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