Increasing awareness of coercive control

The abuse can be both physical and non-physical, including:

• controlling who a person sees, what they wear, and where they go

• tracking everything a person does

• controlling a person’s finances, medicine, food or exercise

• regularly criticising or blaming a person, so they doubt themselves

• forcing someone to have sex or do sexual things

• stopping a person from following their religion or cultural practices

• threatening a person, their children, family or friends.

Coercive control often underpins cases of family and domestic violence in our community. Abuse can also be targeted and subtle, and someone may not always know they are experiencing coercive control.

Someone using coercive control may use digital technology as part of their abuse.

This can include:

• making repeated abusive, threatening or unwanted messages or calls

• tracking someone’s location

• checking who someone talks to online or over the phone

• creating fake social media accounts and/or making hurtful or false posts about someone

• controlling internet accounts or locking someone out of them – such as Wi-Fi, email, social media or banking

• making, sharing or threatening to share intimate videos of someone without their permission

• using cameras or recording devices to spy on someone.

The Australian Government has developed the National Principles to Address Coercive Control in Family and Domestic Violence.

The National Principles aim to create a shared understanding of coercive control and increase awareness of the issue.

Read more about the seven National Principles.

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