Coercive Control in Queensland — The New Laws Explained
Domestic Violence — 2026-07-24 — by Sacha Sarah Smith, Civic Law
Queensland made coercive control a standalone criminal offence on 26 May 2025. What the charge involves, how it differs from other DV offences, and what you are facing if charged.
On 26 May 2025, Queensland made coercive control a standalone criminal offence. The charge sits under section 334C of the <em>Criminal Code</em> — Chapter 29A, commonly called Hannah's Law. It carries a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment and is tried in the <a href="/cairns-district-court">District Court</a> before a jury.
If you have been charged with coercive control, you are dealing with one of the most serious <a href="/domestic-violence-lawyer-cairns">domestic violence offences</a> in Queensland. It is a show cause offence — which means the court starts from a position of keeping you in custody, and you have to convince the court to let you out on <a href="/bail-applications-lawyer-cairns">bail</a>.
This is a new offence. There is no established sentencing pattern, no appellate case law, and no settled approach to how courts will interpret the elements. Every early case is, to some extent, a test case. Below is what the charge involves and what you need to understand.
What the Prosecution Must Prove
Before you can be found guilty, the prosecution has to prove four things beyond reasonable doubt under section 334C. If any one of them is missing, the charge against you fails:
<strong>You are an adult in a domestic relationship with the other person.</strong> You must be 18 or older. The relationship can be a current or former intimate partner, a family member, or an informal carer. If your relationship does not fall within the legal definition, the charge cannot stand.
<strong>You engaged in a course of conduct involving domestic violence on more than one occasion.</strong> A single incident is not enough. The prosecution must show you engaged in a pattern — abusive behaviour that happened more than once. Your individual acts are assessed together, in the context of your relationship as a whole, not in isolation.
<strong>You intended the course of conduct to coerce or control the other person.</strong> The prosecution must prove you actually intended to coerce or control — not just that you were careless or reckless. Under section 334C(3), they do not need to prove you intended each individual act to be controlling. It is the pattern as a whole that must carry that intent.
<strong>Your course of conduct would be reasonably likely to cause harm.</strong> "Harm" means any negative effect on the other person's physical, emotional, financial, psychological, or mental wellbeing. The prosecution does not need to prove harm was actually caused — only that your conduct was reasonably likely to cause it.
If the prosecution cannot prove any one of those four elements, you walk out not guilty. Each element creates a potential line of defence — and Sacha assesses every one of them against the evidence in your brief.
What Counts as "Domestic Violence" for This Charge
Section 334B of the <em>Criminal Code</em> defines domestic violence broadly for the purposes of this offence. It is not limited to physical violence. The definition includes behaviour that is:
<strong>Physically or sexually abusive.</strong> Hitting, pushing, restricting movement, or any unwanted sexual conduct.
<strong>Emotionally or psychologically abusive.</strong> Constant criticism, humiliation, threats to harm yourself if the other person leaves, manipulating them into doubting their own perception of events.
<strong>Economically abusive.</strong> Controlling access to money, preventing someone from working, running up debts in their name, withholding financial information.