VCOSS responds to Victoria’s recent family violence reforms

MEDIA RELEASE

The Victorian Government’s Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Coercive Control, Good Character, Risk Assessment and Other Matters) Bill 2026, introduced to Parliament this week, includes a range of measures intended to strengthen how Victoria’s systems identify and respond to family violence.

The Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) welcomes many of these measures, including the extension of the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 to protect victim-survivors of family violence from discrimination, and the expansion of fines relief and exemptions for victim-survivors.

VCOSS also recognises the serious and lasting harm that coercive control causes across our communities, and supports the intent behind the Bill’s provisions to address it.  

As the peak body for Victoria’s social and community sector, VCOSS stands with our specialist member organisations who work directly with victim-survivors every day. 

VCOSS CEO Juanita Pope says: “This is a substantial package of reforms, including some that VCOSS and our member organisations have advocated for over many years. On the proposed standalone offence of coercive control, however, we note the significant concerns voiced by specialist family violence and community legal services.”  

These organisations have warned that a standalone offence of coercive control carries risks including perpetrator misidentification, systems abuse, and drawing victim-survivors further into the criminal legal system.  

Ms Pope says, “When services with world-leading expertise tell us that part of a new legislative package could risk harming the very people it is meant to protect, government should listen.” 

VCOSS acknowledges that views across the sector and among victim-survivors are not unanimous on this important and sensitive issue. Where there is broad agreement is that victim-survivors’ safety must be prioritised.  

If a criminal offence for coercive control is to proceed, it cannot stand alone – it must sit within a broader reform agenda that includes prevention, early intervention, culturally safe and accessible support services, improved responses to misidentification, and safeguards against unintended harms. 

This reflects VCOSS’ longstanding advocacy for approaches that address the underlying drivers of harm and don’t rely solely on punitive and carceral responses. We urge the Government to work closely with the specialist family violence and community legal sectors to ensure Victoria’s ongoing response to family violence builds genuine safety and does not result in unintended consequences.