Wednesday, 3 December 2025

 Cindy McLEISH (Eildon) (09:34): I move:

That I introduce a bill for an act to amend the Crimes Act 1958 to provide for a new offence in relation to coercive control and for other purposes.

Never has the need to introduce this bill been greater than at this time. We are in the middle of 16 days of activism against gender-based violence for a reason. The crime statistics around women and family violence continue to go in the wrong direction.

In the last 12 months serious assault in family violence has gone up 23.35 per cent. That is enormous, that jump. Breach of family violence orders has gone up nearly 17 per cent. Threatening behaviour has gone up 9 per cent. These are the rolling 12 months to 30 June, but the previous arc to 31 March showed the same story. Every time the crime statistics are out, we know that this is a problem, and we need to act now. The bill that I am introducing is both a preventative tool and has that criminal element, because in other jurisdictions where this type of legislation has been introduced, they have noted a societal shift. In the UK it has been operational for 10 years, and they have seen a societal shift in understanding what coercive control means. In other states that has been the same.

The Premier also knows that we need to do more and act on family violence. I will quote from question time recently on 11 September. The Premier said:

… the number one law and order issue in our state, which is of course violence against women in the home.

The Premier knows we need to do more in this space, and I urge the Premier to get on board at this time. On 30 October, only a couple of months ago:

Whether it is the work to break the cycle of family violence or keeping kids connected to school, that is exactly the work that we will do.

Well, what I am putting forward today is part of the work that needs to be done.

Coercive control is at the heart of just about every female homicide, and there is evidence linking to that. It is not just me saying it. There have been reports to say that well over 90 per cent of women who have been killed by an intimate partner or former intimate partner have been subject to coercive control. We have seen the horrendous case of Hannah Clarke and her family in Queensland, which led to changes in that jurisdiction.

Chris Minns introduced this and it became legislation in the middle of last year. Within one month they had made the first arrest in New South Wales. It started to hit the ground very quickly after that. Chris Minns said:

This legislation is about recognising the true severity of intimate partner homicide and ensuring our justice system reflects that and holds perpetrators to account.

He went on to say:

We know laws alone won’t end domestic and family violence, but they do send a powerful signal about what we stand for as a community.

This is such an important issue, and the Labor government continue to talk about the importance, but they do not even want to listen now, and they are showing the utmost disrespect by the –

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Narre Warren North! Members will come to order. Members on my left will come to order.

Cindy McLEISH: I can hear the joking from the other side – jokes made by the Minister for Police about the library being outside. We are trying to bring in an important piece of legislation here criminalising coercive control. In the main, coercive control is about women – not always, but it is about women. In Queensland they moved very quickly following the Hannah Clarke incident to also make it a crime. We are lagging behind. It was bad enough that 12 months ago when we introduced the domestic violence disclosure scheme that the government voted against that, Clare’s law. The government voted Clare’s law down, a law which has had tens of thousands of women in the United Kingdom come forward and find out that they did have something to be worried about. In South Australia there is an absolute surge in women coming forward under their domestic violence disclosure scheme.

We are not doing enough in this place, and I urge the government to get behind this bill and help us criminalise coercive control, because it is insidious – living on eggshells all the time, being fearful, intimidated, controlled by an intimate or former partner, being monitored and surveyed all the time. We need to do better.

 Natalie HUTCHINS (Sydenham – Minister for Government Services, Minister for Treaty and First Peoples, Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Minister for Women) (09:40): Coercive control is absolutely an insidious, abusive and manipulative act.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Have some respect, members.

Natalie HUTCHINS: And we stand side by side with –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the house!

Natalie HUTCHINS: We stand side by side with victim-survivors of family and domestic violence, and we always will.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Member for Wendouree!

Natalie HUTCHINS: No other state has done more in this country to prevent family violence than the state of Victoria, to protect victims and to make sure that we have the systems in place to share information and to support the services that are needed to wrap around women and children who experience family violence. We have a bill before the Parliament right now that will work to strengthen our system, protecting victim-survivors for longer and holding perpetrators to account. But of course in this space the work is never done. Technology is changing every day, and it is a challenge. We know that there is always more to do but what is most important is that we have the voice of victim-survivors at the centre of the development of our policy and legislation.

We will not make coercive control a political issue. This is something that needs consultation and time. While those opposite have been quoting New South Wales, let me give you a bit of fact about New South Wales – they introduced this as a concept in 2020; it took them until 2024, four years, to actually enact it. What we have done is put coercive control in the definition of family violence here in Victoria already. We will continue to try and do what we can to improve the laws in the future, but what we will not do is be rushed. We do not want unintended consequences.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Nepean!

Natalie HUTCHINS: Misidentification is a real thing that we hear from stakeholders in the sector about. We want to ensure that future laws do not embed that misidentification. We do not support the Liberal Party’s bill because it is undercooked, it is underdone and it is unfit for purpose. I do not know who they have spoken to in the sector because no-one has had the conversation, certainly victims have not been consulted.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Natalie HUTCHINS: We have a victims advisory council. They are pushing this issue very hard. We know that there needs to be an education setting that happens alongside legislation, and I look forward to continuing this work. Let us not forget that those opposite failed to get behind the Royal Commission into Family Violence findings, 227 findings that supported the family violence multi-agency risk assessment and management framework information system, MARAM, that we have in place today, that shares information that is extremely important in informing our services, informing our police officers, informing our hospitals, getting information from our schools to ensure that we are sharing the information that we know is needed to protect women and children’s lives from perpetrators.

 Jade BENHAM (Mildura) (09:43): When we talk about politicising family violence – and I have been saying this since the moment I walked in here and before I got in here – this issue is the very start of where things need to change. It needs its own bill. Please do not patronise me and my colleagues by saying that we are the ones that politicise family violence.

The SPEAKER: Through the Chair, member for Mildura.

Jade BENHAM: The level of disrespect and hypocrisy I saw in the last 10 minutes is baffling to me. Everyone sits there and says that they support victim-survivors, yet the minister for Health does not have the respect to listen to the shadow minister who has put this bill up. Other members do not have the respect –

A member: that is not true.

Jade BENHAM: It happened just then, so please do not tell me it is not true. I was hoping today –

The SPEAKER: Through the Chair, member for Mildura.

Jade BENHAM: I really held out a lot of hope today. I even put make-up on because I thought ‘I am not going to cry for the third time in three weeks.’ I actually thought I might be able to get a message across. But what has been illustrated in this chamber in the last 10 minutes has upset me. When we have a minister saying that it is a political stunt, that makes me want to throw up. That is disgusting behaviour. And I, along with other survivors, will feel absolutely disgusted at the behaviour of members of the Labor government. It is absolutely disgusting.

We have proven this year in this Parliament – in this house – that there are some things that are actually bigger than politics. There are certain issues that transcend politics and are an important element of humanity – this is one of those things. I honestly thought this week with this bill that those who talk about supporting victim-survivors might actually just want to do the right thing and do something about it: cross the floor and support us. Let us at least debate it. Even if you do not support criminalising coercive control, which I think speaks volumes in and of itself, at least let it be debated. Let this transcend politics. Do not tell us that we are politicising it and staging some sort of political stunt. This has been a passion project of mine before coming into this place, and I sincerely thank the member for Eildon for all of the work she has done on this – she has done an incredible amount of work.

Coercive control more often than not is where it starts, and it is more often than not how women are perpetrated against by men – this is where it begins. Give it its own bill, criminalise it, at least let us debate it. Stop the talking and take some action, I am begging you. This is bigger than me, it is bigger than other victims and it is bigger than those that have lost their lives to domestic and family violence. Come with us – just let us debate it. What have you got to lose? Some sort of standing within the factions or the parties? Do the right thing.

Members interjecting.

Jade BENHAM: Well, then prove it. Prove it and cross the floor.

The SPEAKER: Member for Mildura, through the Chair. Members will come to order.

Jade BENHAM: I also want to correct the minister at the table. Saying that the coalition did not support the royal commission is absolutely false and misleading to the house. It actually had bipartisan support. It is the 16 Days of Activism. During this time of the year, for this important bill to be put up and to become Liberal and Nationals policy heading into the next election, is a line in the sand. Take action, cross the floor and do the right thing instead of being so disrespectful to me.

A member interjected.

Jade BENHAM: There you go. That speaks volumes. You are disgusting.

 Ella GEORGE (Lara) (09:49): I think everyone in this place knows that family violence is the single greatest law and order issue in our state. It impacts so many families. I remember as a candidate when I was knocking on people’s doors, not knowing who I was going to be speaking to, people would ask me, ‘Well, what do you do for work?’ I would say, ‘Well, I work in family violence. I work in the court system. I work on the reforms that came out of the royal commission implementing specialist family violence courts to make the court experience safer and more supportive for women and children.’ For me that was a big reason why I wanted to run for Parliament in the first place. So many women who I said that to said, ‘I have been a victim of family violence.’ The power of disclosing that to me has stayed with me throughout my three years in this place.

I speak to women all the time in my community who have experienced family violence, as I know everyone in this place has. This is something that we are all passionate about. I know that for the member for Mildura this is something she feels incredibly passionate about and wants to create positive change in the space, as I know the member for Eildon does, and I commend them for that. That is remarkable to get up in this place and stand up and say, ‘I’ve had this experience and I want to change things for other women.’ I commend the member for Mildura for the bravery and courage she has shown time and time again in this place.

We know that family violence is the single biggest issue in this state. And why do we know that? Because on this side of the house there are so many of us who are women, so many of us who have our own stories of family violence or of experiencing coercive control, or friends or family members who have experienced that.

In thinking about what I was going to say in my contribution today I was thinking about coercive control, and it is rather new language for us in Victoria. I thought back to my 20s and all the terrible boyfriends that you have who might pick up your phone and go through it or say, ‘Oh, I really don’t think you should be doing that.’ At the time you think, ‘Oh, well, they’re a bit of a loser’ – maybe. I am not sure if that is parliamentary language, Speaker. But now we have a different word for it, and that word is ‘coercive control’. And that is what we absolutely must stamp out in our state. We must stamp it out, because it is insidious, as the minister said, it is abusive, it is manipulative, and it has no place in Victoria. It has no place in our state.

Roma Britnell: Then criminalise it.

The SPEAKER: Member for South-West Coast.

Ella GEORGE: It has no place in our families and in our communities, and we will always stand side by side with victim-survivors of domestic violence and family violence. I know that everyone in this chamber will stand side by side with victim-survivors, and there is no other state than Victoria that has done more to support people experiencing family violence and doing our very best to address it and to stamp out the root causes.

I commend the minister for the incredible work she has done over many, many, many years. There is no-one in this place that has done more than the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence when it comes to addressing family violence in Victoria. There is no other state in this country that has done more, and we will continue to do that important work.

We have already accepted and implemented and funded 227 recommendations that came from the Royal Commission into Family Violence. That is a decade of hard work from the minister at the table and all of her team and, quite frankly, everyone in this place, because it was a huge amount of effort. I know so many people have played a role in that.

We have a bill before the Parliament right now, because we know that when it comes to family violence, when it comes to coercive control, there is always more we can do in this state, and that is exactly what we are doing. I spoke on it recently. I know many of my colleagues did too. We spoke about what we are doing to strengthen our family violence systems in Victoria, to reduce misidentification of the predominant aggressor, a huge issue in our family violence system; how we can protect victim-survivors better and how we can hold perpetrators to account.

Once again, I would like to remind the house of why we are all so passionate about family violence. It is because of the women. It is because of the women in this place. The majority of women on the government benches, the majority of women who have experienced family violence, who have friends and family members who have experienced family violence. We take this seriously. We back recommendations from royal commissions. We do our due diligence. We consult with people, and we will always do more for family violence in Victoria.

 James NEWBURY (Brighton) (09:54): I rise in support of the member for Eildon’s attempt this morning to introduce a bill into this place which will criminalise coercive control. I feel incredibly humbled to follow my colleagues, the member for Eildon, who spoke so incredibly eloquently, and the member for Mildura, who has spoken not only today so bravely but so many times so bravely.

Today is an opportunity for this chamber to rise above politics and do the right thing, to do the right thing for Victoria, to do the right thing for Victorians and to say that an attempt to do something should not wait. It must not wait, and this Parliament has the opportunity now to allow this bill into the chamber onto the notice paper for further consideration.

The chamber needs to understand this. What we will vote on shortly is not the substance of the bill but if the bill is to be allowed into this chamber for future debate, for future consideration, and acceptance that this bill deserves to be considered by this Parliament. We are not asking this chamber, we are not asking the government, to immediately make a decision on this bill; we are saying this issue is a priority. It must be considered by this place. Please allow us the opportunity to put this bill on the notice paper for future consideration, because, respectfully, saying other jurisdictions took four years to do something is just not good enough. We have an opportunity today to do something, to allow this bill into the chamber. Of course we will work with the government. I put out the offer, if the government allows this onto the notice paper, to work with the government, as I am sure the member for Eildon will, in the most collaborative way, acknowledging the government bench and working with the government on timing that may suit them and amendments that they may wish to consider.

Of course we will work with the government. We will take any opportunity the government offers to work on a bill that criminalises coercive control, because in almost every single case of an intimate partner murder coercive control preceded that violent murder. The question is not whether or not this Parliament should do something; this Parliament will do something. It must do something, and it is a matter of how long until it does. Today is an opportunity for this Parliament to do something: to allow this issue onto the notice paper, to accept the opposition’s offer to work with it and understand that this Parliament should not be about politics, it should be about doing the right thing by Victorians. Accept the goodwill of the member for Eildon in bringing this bill forward.

I do not need to read into the chamber record the sharp and alarming rise in terms of crime statistics, because I feel very, very confident that the minister at the table and many members on the other side of the chamber not only know the statistics but I am sure they keep them up at night. I have absolute faith in the goodwill of many people in this chamber on these issues. Therefore I ask: why not now? Why not accept this bill that has been introduced into the chamber and allow it to be put onto the notice paper for future consideration? Why not now? How can anybody in good conscience not allow it to occur now? We heard earlier that it is important not to rush, and I understand that. That is why putting this bill on the notice paper is the only good thing to do. Accepting our offer to work together, once the bill is there, on any amendments that may be required to ensure that this is done as soon as possible is the only good thing for this bill at this time. I would say to the government: please consider this matter very seriously; please consider your good conscience and support the member for Eildon today.

 Alison MARCHANT (Bellarine) (09:59): I rise to make some brief remarks around this debate and the bill that is being sought to be introduced by the opposition regarding coercive control. At the outset I also want to acknowledge the seriousness of thus debate and coercive control and its devastating impacts on our communities right now and on our victim-survivors, who are mainly women and children. Many of them, as the member for Lara has indicated, are silent victims of family violence. I do acknowledge that this is an issue that this Parliament – and this chamber – has a responsibility to treat with the seriousness and the gravity that it deserves, just as we did, and I did, last sitting week when we spoke on the Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Stalking and Other Matters) Bill 2025 amendments.

[The Legislative Assembly report is being published progressively.]