NSW's coercive control law put Samantha Bouffler's abuser in jail.
asserted
law → put → jail
But two years in, it's unclear whether the contentious new legislation is the success story many have been hoping for.
uncertain
many → hop → ?
It took a while for the Local Court judge's words to sink in, for Samantha Bouffler to grasp that her ex-partner would lose his liberty for having so brutally deprived her of hers.
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partner → take → hers
In January this year Callum Fairleigh became the first person to be sentenced to a jail term under NSW's new law against coercive control, the pattern of controlling behaviour perpetrators of domestic violence use to entrap and dominate victims.
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perpetrators → become → victims
"I remember I was really emotional but it's difficult to describe," Bouffler, 35, says.
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Bouffler → remember → ?
"I was relieved, and I felt validated, but then it was like my body crashed because I'd been on such high alert for so long …
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I → feel → alert
I'm still dealing with the consequences every single day."
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I → deal → consequences
The agreed facts ran to eight pages, chronicling almost six months of Fairleigh's abuse from July 1, 2024, when the legislation took effect.
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legislation → agree → effect
He shamed, harassed and humiliated Bouffler, calling her a bitch, a moron and other slurs.
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He → sham → her
He baselessly accused her of cheating on him.
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He → accuse → him
He damaged her property.
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He → damage → property
He tried to isolate her from her family and friends, "blowing up" her phone whenever she spent time with them, demanding she cut them off and be on his "team".
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she → try → team
All of Fairleigh's abuse was awful, Bouffler says (his previous charges for assaulting her were dismissed).
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charges → say → her
But it was the psychological control that was "most damaging" — the sense of worthlessness she felt, the hyper-vigilance, the feeling of walking on eggshells so many victims describe.
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victims → feel → eggshells
"It doesn't just hurt, it completely dismantles you," she told the court.
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she → hurt → court
"It stripped me of my identity, shattered my confidence and poisoned every part of my life.
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It → strip → life
He didn't just damage me; he destroyed the woman I was."
In November 2022, NSW became the first Australian jurisdiction to criminalise coercive control, with a new law, in force from July 2024, making it an offence to engage in a pattern of abusive behaviour against a current or former partner in order to coerce or control them.
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it → damage → them
Politicians and advocates who campaigned for it insisted it was important for the criminal law to recognise the insidious system of tactics that underpins so much domestic violence.
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that → campaign → violence
Plus, they argued, coercive control is a precursor in up to 99 per cent of domestic homicides — outlawing it could "literally" save lives.
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outlawing → argue → lives
Two years in, though, the jury is still out on whether the new laws are the success story many have been hoping for.
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many → hop → ?
In the handful of cases finalised in court so far judges have grappled with the serious nature of coercive control and its devastating impacts on victims, highlighting the law's potential to shift the way the criminal justice system — and the broader community — understands and responds to domestic violence.
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system → finalise → violence
But recorded "incidents", charges and convictions remain low, and victim support workers across the state say they're underwhelmed by progress so far, with many disappointed with slow and "patchy" responses from police, who seem to be struggling with how to investigate what is widely regarded as an overly complex and narrowly drafted offence.
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what → record → offence
With South Australia's coercive control law set to take effect next year, and the ACT and Victoria recently introducing bills of their own, their questions and concerns offer a glimpse at how hard it can be to implement such a sweeping reform — and how much is at stake if it fails.
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it → set → stake
"I think there's been an expectation from the community that there would be a higher rate of charges in NSW and ultimately I don't think we've met those expectations," says Angie Gehle, policy and advocacy manager at DVNSW, the state's peak body for domestic violence services.
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Gehle → think → services
"And the law, the actual offence, doesn't necessarily meet the experiences … of victim-survivors."
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law → meet → survivors
New data released by BOCSAR this week shows NSW police recorded 682 reports of coercive control in the first 24 months of the offence, the vast majority (95 per cent) involving a female victim.
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majority → release → victim
As of June 2026, 42 charges had been laid, all of them against men, and four defendants were sentenced after pleading guilty: two received prison sentences (two years, and two years and three months), one an 18-month intensive correction order, and the other a two-year community correction order.
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other → lay → sentences
Some observers might attribute the low number of charges and convictions to police and courts just getting their wheels on during the early implementation period.
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police → attribute → period
But courts data in Queensland, where coercive control legislation took effect in May 2025, is raising eyebrows: as of July this year 216 defendants had a coercive control case lodged in the Magistrates or District Court, and all of the 19 men convicted were sentenced to terms of imprisonment.
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all → take → imprisonment
It is unclear what is driving these differences.
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what → drive → differences
It could be because Queensland's offence applies to partner and family relationships while NSW's is limited to intimate partnerships.
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NSW → apply → partnerships
There may also be differences in how police are applying the laws; by many accounts gathering evidence is also a challenge in Queensland, but some experts wonder whether the maximum penalty — 14 years, compared with NSW's seven — is more motivating to officers who see it as a better return on investment.
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who → apply → investment
Maybe it's as one Queensland legal professional put it: "Police were basically told to get this right, there's lots of pressure on them."
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this → put → them
For Professor Jane Wangmann, who researches legal responses to domestic violence at the University of Technology Sydney, a major concern in NSW is the huge disparity between reports of coercive control (682 in the two years to June 2026) and domestic violence assaults (more than 77,000 in the same period).
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concern → research → period
It raises serious questions, she says, about what is happening when victims report DV to police.
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victims → raise → police
When research suggests it underpins almost all domestic violence, how much coercive control is being overlooked?
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control → suggest → violence
Wangmann wants NSW to replicate a UK study which explored the problems and possibilities of implementing laws against coercive control in the UK.
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which → want → UK
The research, published last year, found police in England and Wales failed to record coercive control in at least 87 per cent of cases of physical violence.
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police → publish → violence
"I would like the police to think it's actually a positive story for them," she says.
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she → like → them
"That if they're better trained to actually see what is potentially already available to them, they don't necessarily have to go and do something more.
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they → train → something
…and 101 more, not listed.
The Aporia