Submissions

Overview

In August 2026, The Salvation Army provided a submission to the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Communities and Justice regarding the Review of the NSW Coercive Control Law. 
Our submission supported the intent of the legislation but argued that legislative reform alone is insufficient to address the complex and widespread nature of coercive control. 
Drawing on the experiences of our frontline family and domestic violence services, highlighted the need for significant strategic investment and coordinated reform across service, policy, administrative and legislative responses are required to end family and domestic violence in New South Wales.

Key Points

•    Police and justice staff require greater capacity to identify and respond to coercive control, particularly where there is an absence of physical violence. This must include investment in specialist training, cross-sector collaboration and co-responder models that embed family and domestic violence specialists within justice and police responses.
•    Additional resources are required to support consistent and transparent investigations of reports and suspected coercive control cases. 
•    Legislative reviews must be informed through consultation and co-design with diverse communities and priority cohorts. This should include, but not be limited to, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, people living with disability, LGBTIQA+ communities, and children and young people.
•    Children and young people need to be recognised and treated as victim-survivors in their own right, and engaged in family and domestic violence reform processes.
•    Responses must consider that coercive control occurs within a broad range of relationship types, including family members, people in family-like relationships and kinship relationships.
•    Greater investment is required in public education and awareness initiatives to improve understanding of coercive control and available support services.
•    Victim-survivors need access to clear, accessible information about coercive control legislation, legal options and support pathways, including multilingual and easy-read resources.