Criminalising coercive control and a fresh inquiry examining the culture of the state's police force are among the recommendations from an exhaustive review into domestic violence in Queensland.
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A staged approach to the introduction of the new offence of coercive control is recommended to allow first responders and the broader community time to understand and identify controlling behaviour, the report by the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce says.
"I expected to hear from women about their mistreatment at the hands of perpetrators, perhaps sometimes enabled by family and community members," taskforce chair the Honourable Margaret McMurdo said.
"I did not expect to hear that women perceive that perpetrators are emboldened by police, legal practitioners and judicial officers."
The individual incident-based response to domestic violence means when a woman reacts in self-defence to years of abuse, she risks being misidentified as the primary perpetrator, Ms McMurdo said.
"This can happen even when the woman has sought police help," she said.
"When police arrive, she might be hysterical, whereas he calmly and manipulatively points to his relatively minor injuries and the police charge her."
The issue particularly effects those with a disability, Indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse women, Ms McMurdo said.
While Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said it was "incredibly disappointing" to hear some people felt let down by domestic violence responses, she rejected the need for a commission of inquiry.
"DV reform within the QPS has been a priority of mine since I began as the commissioner," she said on Thursday.
"These (reforms) will achieve the same outcomes as proposed by an inquiry and enhance the service's capability to protect vulnerable people."
The recommendations are among 89 now under consideration by the state government, Queensland Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman said before tabling the report on Thursday.
"To the over 700 brave victim-survivors who have come forward to share their stories, we hear your voice, and we will listen," she said.
Coercive behaviour is about a false belief "too many men have" that they are entitled to power and control over women, Ms Fentiman told parliament.
The parents of Hannah Clarke, who was murdered alongside her three children in a horrific domestic violence attack in 2020, were in the public gallery for the release of the report.
Sue and Lloyd Clarke said new laws would not work unless frontline workers understood the red flags of coercive control.
"We knew something was wrong, we didn't know it had a name," Mr Clarke said outside parliament.
Shutting down personal social media accounts in favour of joint profiles, limiting clothing choices, going through phones and constant checking-in were among the warning signs, the couple said.
"We need bystanders, especially family and friends, to say, 'It's not cool. Let's call them out'," Mr Clarke said.
Among the recommendations for immediate law reform were modernising the unlawful stalking offence to keep pace with technology, and amendments to reduce perpetrators using cross-applications to "continue inflicting violence and coercion on their victims," Ms Fentiman said.
The first raft of legislative change is expected next year and the government will provide a formal response to the recommendations in the first half of 2022.
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Australian Associated Press
