The Victorian government will introduce a stand-alone coercive control offense in 2026, marking a major policy reversal after the new opposition leader, Jess Wilson, made the reform his first election commitment.
Wilson announced last week that she would commit crimes within her first 100 days in office if the Coalition wins the election in November 2026.
At the time, the government said that the definition of family violence in existing law included coercive behaviour, meaning it was already a criminal offence.
But on Wednesday – the same day the Liberals introduced bills in both houses of Parliament to establish a force control crime – the Attorney-General, Sonya Kilkenny, acknowledged that “more must be done” – even though Labor voted against the bill in the lower house.
Debate on the bill was adjourned in the Upper House, with Labor MPs supporting a separate motion from the Liberals to “immediately intensify” coercion control laws in the state.
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In a statement to Guardian Australia, Kilkenny said the government “will introduce legislation next year to make coercive restraint a stand-alone criminal offence, but it is important this work is not rushed, is informed by consultation and does not have unintended consequences”.
“Coercive control is deceitful, abusive and manipulative – we stand shoulder to shoulder with victim-survivors of family violence and we always will,” Kilkenny told Guardian Australia in a statement.
“Our laws already recognize this behavior as a criminal offence, and protect victims against it – however more must be done.”
The government also has another bill before the Upper House, which introduces a two-year minimum period for family violence intervention orders, allows these orders to continue for children after they turn 18 and broadens the definition of family violence to include additional forms of abuse, such as stalking, systemic abuse and animal abuse.
During a debate on the Liberals’ bill in the lower house, Women’s Minister Natalie Hutchins described their plan as “half-baked”, “incomplete” and “fit for purpose”. He said they were attempting to make forced control a “political issue”.
This was denied by the coalition.
Liberal spokeswoman for women Cindy McLeish told the lower house that Victoria was “lagging behind” on reform.
McLeish said, “We are not doing enough in this space, and I urge the Government to get behind this bill and help us criminalize coercive control, because it is insidious – living on eggshells all the time, living in fear.”
The Liberal bill largely mimics New South Wales laws passed in 2022. Those laws, which took effect last year, made coercive control punishable by a maximum prison sentence of seven years.
In Queensland, where coercive control legislation was passed in 2024 and comes into effect this year, the maximum penalty is 14 years’ imprisonment.
Coercive control describes a wide range of behaviors used to dominate another person, usually an intimate partner. It is almost exclusively perpetrated by men against women and includes isolation, surveillance, gaslighting, and financial control.
The issue came to prominence in 2020 following the murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children by her estranged husband.
In Australia, national The Family Violence Counseling Service is on 1800 737 732.
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