New law reforms aiming to protect all victim-survivors of family and sexual violence passed parliament last week.

Under the reforms, the State Government has passed law to make coercive control a criminal offence.

Coercive control is a pattern of controlling and manipulative behaviours within a relationship, repeatedly hurting, scaring or isolating another person to control them.

The government moved to pass the reforms to ensure victim-survivors were at the centre of the justice system.

Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny said offenders would not be able to rely on good character references to lessen their sentence, and discrimination against victims of family violence would be unlawful.

Victim-survivors will have broader access to relief when fines are weaponised against them by their perpetrator and grooming will be prohibited under the Personal Safety Intervention Order framework. 

“We’ve turned victim-survivors’ voices into law – strengthening protections and closing loopholes to hold perpetrators to account,” Ms Kilkenny said.

“Now we are bringing experts to the table to make sure we continue to change the law to ensure our justice system is protecting victim-survivors. 

“We will keep listening, keep acting and keep putting their safety first.”

Other changes include imprisonment warrants for unpaid fines issued under now-repealed legislation will be voided; and begging being decriminalised. 

Ms Kilkenny will also establish a Victim Survivor Justice Advisory Group – a group of experts to drive further reforms to strengthen the justice system’s response to family and sexual violence.

The first meeting will be convened later this month, and its first priority is to consult on and design reform to: strengthen protections to ensure victim-survivors’ counselling records and health information cannot be used in court without their consent; and give victim-survivors of sexual violence the choice to pre-record their evidence.

The reforms are set to be introduced in 2027. 

A Lived Experience Reference Group will work with the advisory group to shape its advice. 

Significant step

Nationals Member for Mildura Jade Benham described the introduction of laws recognising coercive control as a significant step forward for survivors of family violence.

When speaking in parliament on the Justice Legislation Amendment, Family Violence, Coercive Control, Good Character, Risk Assessment and Other Matters Bill 2026, Ms Benham said she was proud and relieved to finally see coercive control recognised in law.

“I have been advocating for coercive-control laws for so long, and to come so close only to be let down when Labor rejected the Nationals and Liberals’ bill last year was devastating,” she said.

“To now see coercive control recognised in law is a monumental step forward. This is an incredibly important piece of legislation.”

Ms Benham said the reforms would give people experiencing coercive control greater recognition of what they were experiencing, while providing a pathway to consequences for perpetrators.

“These laws matter to people sitting at home who don’t yet realise that the gaslighting, manipulation, financial control and abuse they are experiencing is coercive control,” she said.

“Knowing there is now a law that recognises this behaviour, and that there can be consequences, is incredibly important.”

Ms Benham said the reforms were an important step to ensure survivors were protected outside the courtroom.

“In regional communities, we are witnessing convicted perpetrators being welcomed back into their local sporting clubs as though nothing has happened,” she said.

“That is incredibly triggering and traumatic, not just for the survivor, but for every other woman who has not yet felt safe enough to speak out.”

Ms Benham also pinpointed football clubs as needing to change how they treated perpetrators of family violence.

“The AFL has the ability to take that decision out of the hands of individual clubs and judges,” she said. 

“If a footballer is convicted of a domestic-violence offence, they should not simply be able to return to an AFL-affiliated club.

“The AFL needs to take this seriously. If they are going to stand for something, they should stand for this.

“These laws are a turning point, but they are only the beginning. We need to keep working to make sure survivors are protected and perpetrators face consequences.”

The entire September 16, 2026 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!