Queensland’s Someday, Maybe New Laws About Coercive Control
Not yet in force, and they might never be as an election intervenes, but Queensland’s Parliament has passed laws to create a new criminal offence of coercive control.
The offence requires an intent. The intent may be either to coerce or control.
“Coerce” is not defined for the offence section. It is defined for a different part of the Act but strangely, not where it matters most.
“Control” is not defined at all.
“Harm” is defined to mean any detrimental effect on the person’s physical, emotional, financial, psychological or mental wellbeing, whether temporary or permanent.
If they cried, they were harmed.
It will be immaterial whether any harm was actually caused. If they could have cried, that will be enough harm to establish the offence.
How will this new law against coercive control work in practice?
“If you don’t stop spending so much money on your hobby I’m going to leave you.”
We have there some interference with financial autonomy. Is it unreasonable? If so, it’s economic abuse.
“If you refuse to come to my friend’s wedding, you can forget about me paying for that new car.”
There we have restricting freedom of action, and, if followed through, punishment.
Two acts of domestic violence, intended to control the other person’s behaviour.
So the crime of coercive control is committed.
The prosecution will not have to prove the control was unreasonable. If the accused wants to argue their demands were reasonable, the burden will be on the accused to prove it.
A Parliamentary Committee considered these coercive control laws before they were passed. The Liberal National Party members , currently in Opposition, dissented from the report approving the laws. An election must be held in October 2024. The new government, whether Australian Labor Party, Liberal National Party, or Green will have an opportunity to look again at this issue, and at least fix up the worst parts of this badly drafted law.
As it stands, the law creating the coercive control offence will be added to the Criminal Code and read as follows:
“(1) A person who is an adult commits an offence (a coercive control offence) if—
(a) the person is in a domestic relationship with another person (the other person); and
(b) the person engages in a course of conduct against the other person that consists of domestic violence occurring on more than 1 occasion; and
(c) the person intends the course of conduct to coerce or control the other person; and
(d) the course of conduct would, in all the circumstances, be reasonably likely to cause the other person harm.
Maximum penalty—14 years imprisonment.”
Mackenzie Mitchell Solicitors made a submission to the Parliamentary Committee detailing the flaws in the way in which the new coercive control laws have been written.