‘A lot of work to do’: State introduces tougher domestic violence laws

Queensland’s Attorney-General says new domestic violence laws take into consideration non-physical forms of violence, including stalking.
A bill has been introduced into parliament today, broadening the definition of domestic violence to refer to a “pattern of behaviour” not just single incidents.
It lays the groundwork for coercive control to be made a stand-alone offence next year.
Shannon Fentiman said it’s a first step to give vulnerable women more options.
“Women are now coming forward for the first time, who didn’t think they were in a domestic violence relationship so this is just the first step, and there is, I acknowledge, a lot of work to do before we get to criminalising coercive control.”
Attorney-General Fentiman said the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce was clear, that the current system wasn’t set up to criminalise coercive control, yet.
“Today’s bill is about the first step, really laying the groundwork for the criminal offence that will come next year and that was on the advice of experts and the taskforce that we needed to do these steps first, and then create a criminal offence.”
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Hannah Clarke’s parents, who have become strong advocates for reform in the area, said it was a small step in the right direction.
“We still need these conversations to go on, we still need education out there … younger generation they need to know about coercive control and what a healthy relationship is, and we need to educate adults as well,” Lloyd Clarke said.