Attorneys progress action on coercion

Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus met with his state and territory and New Zealand counterparts in Melbourne on Friday to examine strengthening criminal justice responses to sexual assault.

They agreed to release a consultation draft of the national principles to address coercive control, with consultation to start in September.

Mr Dreyfus said a nationally consistent approach to the laws would allow for coercive control to be better understood.

"If we can get a better community awareness of what coercive control is, we can start to take steps to eliminate this conduct," he told ABC radio on Friday.

"Part of it might be criminalising, but a big part of it is just getting this behaviour recognised. Everyone that's talked about this ... says it's very difficult to recognise."

Work on national principles to address coercive control began following the killing of Hannah Clarke in 2020.

Ms Clarke's death sent ripples around the nation after her estranged husband used petrol to set her and her three children on fire in Brisbane.

Some jurisdictions, including Queensland and NSW, have moved to criminalise coercive control.

Mr Dreyfus said while some states have moved to legislate, other jurisdictions have indicated they did not need to due to their own criminal code.

"We don't have consistent criminal law across Australia. Every state has its own criminal laws and different legislation," he said.

The meeting also endorsed a work plan to strengthen criminal justice responses to sexual assault.

Attorneys-general have committed to taking action to improve the experiences of victim-survivors of sexual assault in the criminal justice system.

They also noted an update on a national review of sexual assault legislation, which includes looking at definitions in relation to consent, as well as broader definitions relating to sexual assault and child sexual abuse.

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Australian Associated Press