Criminalising Coercive Control in NSW: Misunderstandings and Missed Opportunities

Wangmann, J

Criminalising Coercive Control in NSW: Misunderstandings and Missed Opportunities

Wangmann, J

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Publisher:: Law School, University of New South Wales
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: The University of New South Wales law journal, 2024, 47, (3), pp. 812-841
Issue Date:: 2024-10-23

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Wangmann, J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0812-4214
dc.date.accessioned	2024-10-24T23:00:12Z
dc.date.available	2024-10-24T23:00:12Z
dc.date.issued	2024-10-23
dc.identifier.citation	The University of New South Wales law journal, 2024, 47, (3), pp. 812-841
dc.identifier.issn	0313-0096
dc.identifier.issn	0313-0096
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/181571
dc.description.abstract	In 2022, New South Wales (‘NSW’) became the first Australian jurisdiction to criminalise coercive control, with the offence commencing on 1 July 2024. This follows the creation of similar offences overseas. These novel offences are designed to respond to the extensive critique of the criminal law which has largely focused on discrete incidents of physical violence leaving absent the full range and pattern of abuse experienced as domestic and family violence. In legislating in this area, the NSW Government sought to balance key tensions that emerged in the debates about criminalisation, such as: not to over-reach; the risk of victims being misidentified as offenders; the over-criminalisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; while at the same time addressing coercive control. In this article, I critically examine the NSW offence drawing attention to various misunderstandings about coercive control and misidentification that appear to underpin the NSW approach.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Law School, University of New South Wales
dc.relation.ispartof	The University of New South Wales law journal
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	1801 Law
dc.subject.classification	48 Law and legal studies
dc.title	Criminalising Coercive Control in NSW: Misunderstandings and Missed Opportunities
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	47
utslib.location.activity	Australia
utslib.for	1801 Law
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Law
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	true
dc.date.updated	2024-10-24T23:00:07Z
pubs.issue	3
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	47
utslib.citation.issue	3

Abstract:

In 2022, New South Wales (‘NSW’) became the first Australian jurisdiction to criminalise coercive control, with the offence commencing on 1 July 2024. This follows the creation of similar offences overseas. These novel offences are designed to respond to the extensive critique of the criminal law which has largely focused on discrete incidents of physical violence leaving absent the full range and pattern of abuse experienced as domestic and family violence. In legislating in this area, the NSW Government sought to balance key tensions that emerged in the debates about criminalisation, such as: not to over-reach; the risk of victims being misidentified as offenders; the over-criminalisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; while at the same time addressing coercive control. In this article, I critically examine the NSW offence drawing attention to various misunderstandings about coercive control and misidentification that appear to underpin the NSW approach.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/181571