In September 2021, the Attorney-General’s Department proposed a draft Criminal Law Consolidation (Abusive Behaviour) Amendment Bill 2021 to strengthen domestic violence laws by criminalising coercive and controlling behaviour against current or former intimate partners. This would create new criminal offences with maximum penalties of between 2 and 7 years.
Domestic and family violence has a devastating impact on LGBTIQA+ communities, yet the statistics, impact and appropriate responses are relatively unknown.
We welcomed this Bill’s intent to strengthen domestic and family violence laws by criminalising coercive and controlling behaviour. To strengthen the Bill’s ability to address the unique and complex LGBTIQA+ experiences of domestic and family violence, we called on the Government to:
- Count LGBTIQA+ people in domestic and family violence data and statistics.
- Define an ‘act of abuse’ in the Bill to include abusive behaviours experienced specifically by LGBTIQA+ communities.
- Raise awareness of LGBTIQA+ experiences of domestic and family violence.
- Include LGBTIQA+ people in domestic and family violence policies, strategies and services responses.
Read our full submission here.