Domestic, family and sexual violence is a continuing issue in Canberra and across the country. Photo: Hayley Nicholls.
Four years after the ACT Government committed to a coercive control community education campaign, money has been budgeted to make the promise a reality.
The 2024-25 ACT Budget will provide more than $12 million in additional funding to address domestic, family and sexual violence as incidents continue to increase in Canberra and across the country.
Development of a coercive control package will receive $375,000, which aims to increase understanding and improve responses, provide training to frontline agencies (such as ACT Policing and the courts) on identifying and responding to coercive control, and a public education campaign informed by specialist coercive control expertise.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said it was “crucial” that frontline services were well-equipped to respond to this ongoing community issue.
“It is critical we develop services and responses that meet the need in our community, which is unfortunately increasing. We must have a coordinated understanding and response to domestic, family and sexual violence,” he said.
“Through the funding in this year’s budget, we intend to form a consistent and effective response and to provide better support to victim-survivors.”
It’s previously been suggested a community coercive control education program could be put together in a matter of months.
The money will also provide a funding boost to frontline response services, including the Domestic Violence Crisis Service, Canberra Rape Crisis Centre, YWCA, Beryl Women Inc, and Women’s Health Matters.
Meanwhile, $1.6 million will be injected into behaviour change for perpetrators through extra money for EveryMan to expand its violence prevention programs.
Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Minister Yvette Berry said addressing domestic, family and sexual violence was at the “forefront” of the government’s agenda.
“Across Australia, domestic and family violence is a crisis that requires urgent and ongoing attention,” she said.
“Governments at all levels need to be doing everything they can to bring an end to this epidemic.”
The Opposition has welcomed the funding but said it was a “token effort” unless there’s movement in the legal space around coercive control.
Shadow Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Minister Leanne Castley said the government also needed to commit to criminalising coercive control, which her party has proposed.
“The Canberra Liberals are committed to addressing the serious issue of coercive control and that is why we have released an exposure draft of a bill to criminalise this behaviour,” she said.
“If the Labor-Greens government are at all serious about addressing coercive control, they will support the Canberra Liberals’ bill and stop sitting on their hands pretending to do something.”
Ms Castley will move a bill for her suggested legislation during an upcoming sitting week.
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