Legislative Roadmap - Criminalising Coercive Control in Australia

Seminar Overview

All family and domestic violence (FDV) is underpinned by coercive control, a pattern of manipulative and abusive behaviours in intimate partner relationships that is designed to intimidate, isolate, degrade and trap a person to prevent them from leaving a relationship. It can involve physical or non-physical harm or both as part of the coercion and gets worse over time. Coercive control is recognised as a serious social problem that affects mainly women and children and is now considered the leading predictor among women of severe physical violence, victim-suicide, and intimate partner homicide in Australia.

By facilitating dialogue and informed decision-making, this event aims to raise awareness, encourage critical discussions, and potentially drive policy changes to better address coercive control and support victims of domestic violence in Australia.

Part 1 of this event provides an overview of the current state of coercive control criminalisation in Australia, highlighting legislative progress and gaps across all State-based jurisdictions. Presenter, Dr. Yvonne Kallane, is a coercive control specialist and lived experience expert at DART Institute Australia, and founder of Change the Ending, a social media campaign to end coercive control. The significance of her work is in uncovering the complexities and variations in defining, assessing, and prosecuting coercive control across different Australian states.

Part 2 is an interactive panel session moderated by Jolene Ellat, CEO of DART Institute Australia, that delves into the debate surrounding the effectiveness of criminalisation to address coercive control. The panel, including experts and survivors, explores various perspectives and engages with the audience through a Q&A session.

This is a unique opportunity to hear from some of the leading experts in WA about coercive control and its criminalisation, and we are excited to host an incredible line-up for this very special event.

Highlighted outcomes and themes of the event include:

• State-by-state overview to enhance understanding of the legal landscape and gaps in addressing coercive control across different jurisdictions in Australia.
• Understanding how legislation in the UK and Ireland where coercive control has been criminalised have influenced the growing movement towards criminalising coercive control in the Australian context.
• Positioning coercive control within broader contemporary developments and key debates in Australia related to domestic violence and gender-based abuse.
• An emphasis on discussing alternative approaches and debates surrounding the effectiveness of criminalisation as a response to coercive control.
• Incorporating lived-experience and practice-based perspectives, providing valuable insights from individuals who have directly experienced coercive control or have worked with survivors. This inclusive approach can deepen understanding and inform practical responses within the FDV sector.

Who should attend?

This event is appropriate for any practitioner in the FDV sector seeking to stay informed about the progress of criminalising coercive control in Australia and to engage in key discussions surrounding this critical issue.

Please note that this event is in-person attendance only, and will not be live-streamed or recorded. This decision is made out of respect for the sensitive nature of the topic and the lived experience perspectives that will be shared.

Agenda and program

• Click here to download the agenda
• Click here to download the program

Catering

Upon arrival, guests will be treated to a light breakfast catered to accommodate various dietary preferences, courtesy of our sponsor Bankwest.

Questions about the seminar 

For event queries, please email Sharon at info@dartinstitute.org.au 

Thanks to our Sponsors

This seminar has been made possible by our valued event sponsors: Bankwest, Crime Stoppers WA, Protective Group and Katie-Jeyn Romeyn International.