Coercive Control Laws in Australia: Where It Is a Crime and Where It Is Not

Coercive control is a standalone criminal offence in force today in New South Wales and Queensland, and Tasmania has narrower economic abuse and emotional abuse offences in force. An offence has been enacted but not yet commenced in Victoria and assented but not proclaimed in South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory has only a Bill, and Western Australia and the Northern Territory have no standalone offence.

This article compares the status of standalone coercive control offences across all 8 Australian states and territories as at this article's publication. It does not cover the separate question of how coercive control is treated within civil protection order or family law proceedings. Coercive control is also relevant to bail in the jurisdictions where it is an offence; for New South Wales, see Bail in NSW.

In force now: New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania

New South Wales. Section 54D of the Crimes Act 1900, inserted by the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Coercive Control) Act 2022, has been in force since 1 July 2024. An adult commits the offence if they engage in a course of conduct against another person consisting of abusive behaviour, as defined at section 54F, the two are or were intimate partners, married, de facto, or in another intimate personal relationship regardless of whether it is sexual, the adult intends the conduct to coerce or control the other person, and a reasonable person would consider the conduct likely to cause fear of violence or a serious adverse impact on the person's day to day activities. The maximum penalty is 7 years imprisonment, and section 54E provides a reasonableness defence which the accused must raise before the prosecution is required to disprove it beyond reasonable doubt. The offence is itself a show cause offence for bail purposes.

Queensland. Section 334C of the Criminal Code, inserted by the Criminal Law (Coercive Control and Affirmative Consent) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024, has been in force since 26 May 2025. An adult commits the crime if they are in a domestic relationship with another person, a broader category than an intimate partnership, engage in a course of conduct against them consisting of domestic violence occurring on more than one occasion, intend the conduct to coerce or control them, and the conduct would in all the circumstances be reasonably likely to cause harm. The prosecution does not need to prove intent attached to each individual incident. The maximum penalty is 14 years imprisonment, the highest of any Australian jurisdiction with a coercive control offence in force. It is not retrospective: only acts of domestic violence done after it commenced on 26 May 2025 can form the course of conduct (Criminal Code section 762).

Tasmania. Sections 8 and 9 of the Family Violence Act 2004 have been in force since 30 March 2005, long before coercive control became a named legislative category elsewhere in Australia, and are narrower in scope. Section 8, economic abuse, covers a course of conduct such as coercing a person to relinquish control of an asset or income, disposing of jointly or solely owned property without consent, or withholding necessary financial support, done with intent to unreasonably control or intimidate a spouse or partner. Section 9, emotional abuse or intimidation, covers a course of conduct the person knows or ought to know is likely to unreasonably control or intimidate, or to cause mental harm, apprehension, or fear. Both carry a maximum penalty of 40 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment. Section 9A requires a complaint to be made within 12 months of the last action in the course of conduct, so a prosecution must start within a year of the most recent incident. The Tasmanian offences also apply only to a spouse or partner, with no wider family member extension.

Enacted but not yet in force: Victoria

Victoria has enacted a coercive control offence but it is not yet a live crime. The Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Coercive Control, Good Character, Risk Assessment and Other Matters) Act 2026 passed the Legislative Assembly on 27 August 2026, passed the Legislative Council on 10 September 2026, and received Royal Assent on 22 September 2026. It inserts a new offence at section 34AR of the Crimes Act 1958: an adult commits the offence if they are or have been an intimate partner of another person, engage in a course of conduct towards them showing continuity of purpose and consisting of physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, or economic abuse or a threat of any of those, intend by that conduct to coerce or control the other person, and ought to understand in the circumstances that the conduct will probably cause the other person harm. The maximum penalty is a level 5 term of imprisonment, 10 years.

Some parts of the Act commenced the day after Assent, but the coercive control offence itself (Part 6 of the Act) commences on a day or days to be proclaimed, with a hard backstop: if the provision has not commenced before 1 March 2028, it commences automatically on that day. As at September 2026, no proclamation had been located, so the offence is enacted but not yet in force, and will come into force no later than 1 March 2028.

Assented but not proclaimed: South Australia

The Criminal Law Consolidation (Coercive Control) Amendment Act 2025 was assented on 11 September 2025. It would insert a section 20C offence with a maximum of 7 years imprisonment, covering a person who is or was in a relationship with the other person: married, engaged or betrothed, domestic partners, or another intimate personal relationship (section 20B). It comes into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation, and the 1 July 2026 consolidation of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 still lists it as uncommenced. An assented Act is not the same as an Act in force, and no coercive control offence is operating in South Australia under this Act.

A Bill before the Assembly: the Australian Capital Territory

The Crimes (Coercive Control) Amendment Bill 2026 would insert a new Part 3B into the Crimes Act 1900, establishing a standalone offence. It was presented to the Legislative Assembly on 28 May 2026 and referred to the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs, with submissions closing on 10 July 2026. The committee's report was released on 11 September 2026, and the government response to it is due on 11 January 2027; as at September 2026 the ACT Legislation Register lists the Bill as before the Assembly. The ACT Government has said the offence will have a delayed commencement of two years after it becomes law, so that systems, services and workforces are ready, and the Bill as presented commences the offence 2 years after the Act's notification day. Even a prompt passage would not bring a live offence into force in the near term.

No standalone offence: Western Australia and the Northern Territory

Western Australia has taken a phased approach. The Family Violence Legislation Reform Act 2024 (assented 17 September 2024) amended the Restraining Orders Act 1997 definition of family violence, from 14 November 2024, to cover a pattern of behaviour that, considered cumulatively, coerces or controls a family member or causes them to be fearful, and the government said in September 2024 that this was the first step in a phased approach to criminalising coercive control, with a standalone offence to follow later. No standalone offence Bill had been located as at September 2026.

The Northern Territory has not introduced a standalone coercive control offence. It uses the concept as a definitional element of its domestic and family violence order laws: section 5B of the Domestic and Family Violence Act 2007 defines coercive control as a pattern of conduct that causes a person to fear for their safety, or the safety of another person in a domestic relationship with the person engaging in the conduct, and that results in outcomes such as controlling or subordinating the person, monitoring their daily activity, or isolating them from support.

Coercive control across Australia, at a glance

Why there is no single answer to whether coercive control is illegal in Australia

Because each state and territory legislates its own criminal law, coercive control has no single national answer. Five of the eight jurisdictions either have no offence or have one that is not yet operating, and where an offence does apply, the maximum penalty ranges from 2 to 14 years and the group of relationships covered ranges from spouses only to a broad statutory definition of domestic relationship. A description that treats coercive control as simply illegal or simply not illegal across Australia will be wrong for most readers; the jurisdiction, and the current in force status of that jurisdiction's law, has to be checked specifically.

Anyone dealing with coercive control, whether as someone affected by it or someone facing an allegation, should get advice from a lawyer licensed in the relevant jurisdiction rather than relying on this comparison alone. See our criminal law hub for jurisdiction specific bail information, and our Apprehended Violence Order hub for the civil protection orders that often accompany a coercive control matter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Australian states have made coercive control a crime?

As a standalone coercive control offence in force today, only New South Wales and Queensland, while Tasmania has narrower economic abuse and emotional abuse offences in force. Victoria and South Australia have each passed a coercive control law that is not yet in force. The Australian Capital Territory has a Bill before the Legislative Assembly. Western Australia and the Northern Territory have no standalone offence.

Has Victoria criminalised coercive control?

Victoria has enacted a coercive control offence, at section 34AR of the Crimes Act 1958, inserted by the Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Coercive Control, Good Character, Risk Assessment and Other Matters) Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on 22 September 2026. It is not yet in force. The offence commences on a day fixed by proclamation, with a backstop date of 1 March 2028 if no earlier date is proclaimed.

Is coercive control a crime in South Australia?

Not yet. The Criminal Law Consolidation (Coercive Control) Amendment Act 2025 was assented on 11 September 2025, but it comes into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation, and the 1 July 2026 consolidation of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 still lists it as uncommenced. Once in force, the new section 20C offence carries a maximum of 7 years imprisonment.

What is the penalty for coercive control in NSW?

Under section 54D of the Crimes Act 1900, the maximum penalty is 7 years imprisonment. The offence requires a course of conduct against an intimate partner, an intent to coerce or control that person, and a reasonable person concluding the conduct would likely cause fear of violence or a serious adverse impact on the person's day to day activities, subject to a reasonableness defence at section 54E.

Why does coercive control carry such different penalties across Australia?

Each jurisdiction's coercive control offence, where one exists, was enacted separately and reflects its own scope and drafting choices. Tasmania's economic and emotional abuse offences have been in force since 30 March 2005 and carry a maximum of 2 years, New South Wales's 2022 offence carries 7 years, Victoria's 2026 offence carries 10 years once it commences, and Queensland's 2025 offence, which covers a broader range of domestic relationships rather than intimate partners only, carries 14 years.