The Queensland Government will set up an independent taskforce to investigate the potential to make coercive control a crime.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk made the announcement in a series of tweets this morning.
Coercive control is a form of non-physical domestic and family violence.
It includes behaviours such as controlling what someone wears, limiting access to money, tracking someone’s location, controlling who they see and persistent texting.
Coercive control is seen by many domestic violence experts as a precursor to physical violence and murder.
The new taskforce will consult with a wide range of domestic violence survivors, service providers, legal experts, domestic and family violence experts and the community.
“We’ve seen legislation against coercive control in places like the UK, and it’s important that we too have legislation in place to better protect victims,” Ms Palaszczuk wrote on Twitter.
The chair of the taskforce is expected to be announced later today.
During the election, Ms Palaszczuk committed to making coercive control a crime.
Currently, Tasmania is the only Australian state which has laws directly addressing coercive and controlling behaviours.
However, the NSW, Victoria, South Australian and the Northern Territory state governments are also considering introducing similar laws.
Ms Clarke’s family have advocated for law reform when it comes to coercive control.
She and her children, Aaliyah, six, Laianah, four, and Trey, three, died after they were doused in petrol and set alight by Rowan Baxter on February 19, 2020.
This content first appear on 9news