Consultation opens on the draft Family Violence Reforms Bill 2026

The Tasmanian Government is delivering on an election commitment to strengthen family violence protections, with consultation for the draft Family Violence Reforms Bill 2026 now open.

Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Corrections and Rehabilitation, Guy Barnett, said the Government has a strong agenda to keep victim-survivors safe and ensure perpetrators are held to account.

“We have listened and are continuing to listen carefully to the voices of victim-survivors, advocates, legal stakeholders and the community through consultation on our Discussion Paper on the Family Violence Act,” the Attorney-General said.

“This first tranche of changes includes nation-leading reforms, showing our Government’s steadfast commitment to tackling family violence.

“This reform will modernise the offences of economic and emotional abuse to better capture coercive and controlling behaviour, while extending the time available to commence proceedings.

“We will also introduce a standalone offence of coercive control to more effectively capture patterns of behaviour associated with coercive control.

“These changes will help ensure our laws better reflect the realities experienced by victim-survivors and enable perpetrators to be held to account for harmful patterns of behaviour.”

The Bill will also establish an Australian-first Family Violence Offender Levy of $500, which will be paid by family violence offenders and see funds directed to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund to support victim-survivors.

“That means perpetrators will help fund support for victim-survivors, putting accountability at the heart of our response,” the Attorney-General said.

“Importantly, this new family violence compensation levy is payable in addition to any court fees, fine or reparation amount also ordered by the Court and is additional to the existing Victims of Crime Compensation scheme.”

Minister for Women and the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Jo Palmer, said the Government is supporting victim-survivors and preventing family violence across Tasmania.

“Family violence has no place in our community, and our Government is committed to protecting victim-survivors and ensuring perpetrators are held accountable for their behaviour,” Minister Palmer said.

“These nation-leading reforms send a clear message, family violence will not be tolerated, coercive and controlling behaviour will not be ignored, and perpetrators will be held accountable.”

The proposed reforms will:

• Strengthen protections for people who report family violence;
• Better protect victim-survivors living in rentals and other types of residential properties they may ordinarily occupy;
• Extend the limitation period for prosecuting breaches of family violence orders from 6 to 12 months;
• Ensure the Family Violence Act 2004 treats imitation and replica firearms the same as other firearms legislation;
• Strengthen Tasmania's response to strangulation offences, including creating a new summary strangulation offence and broadening existing provisions to include reckless conduct;
• Expand the Criminal Code offence of ‘Failure to report’ to include where person knows or believes on reasonable grounds a child has been strangled; and
• Clarify jury directions in family violence proceedings.

Consultation is open until midnight on Sunday 4 October 2026.

For more information or to make a submission, visit the Department of Justice Community Consultation website.