Full Breakdown
Victoria’s Labor Government Proposes Sweeping Domestic Violence Law Reforms
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event – Announcement of New Penalties and Offences
On September 20, 2026, Premier Ben Carroll announced reforms that would make life imprisonment the maximum penalty for rape, raise the maximum term for serious sexual offences by five years, and set a standard 30-year sentence for the murder of a current or former partner (up from 25 years). The package also creates two new offences: an Australian-first manslaughter charge for abusers whose coercive control leads a victim to suicide—referred to as “slow femicide”—and a charge for abandoning a victim who needs urgent medical assistance. The reforms are pledged to take effect if the Labor government is re-elected in the November state election.
Background & Context – Rising Violence and Prior Reform Efforts
Victoria’s family-violence reports have risen from roughly 74 000 in 2015 to more than 106 000 in 2025. Police data for 2024-25 show an 8 percent increase over the previous year, and 24 percent of intervention orders were breached in the five years to 2024-25. Since the 2015 Royal Commission into Family Violence, the state has invested over $3.8 billion in prevention and response programs, yet demand continues to outstrip capacity.
Two coronial cases have driven the latest reforms. Narelle Simmons died in October 2021 after her partner assaulted her and failed to seek medical help. Belinda Jones, pregnant at the time, died in July 2023 after her partner left her unattended with a severe infection. Both coroners recommended legislation to criminalise abandonment of victims in medical need.
Data & Statistics – Incidents, Sentencing, and Suicide Links
- Reported family-violence incidents: ?106 000 in 2024-25.
- Intervention-order breach rate: 24 percent over the past five years.
- Women who experience domestic violence are three times more likely to attempt suicide.
- A review of 1 172 suicides (2009-2016) found 24.5 percent of victims had experienced domestic or family violence.
- In the first year after Victoria introduced a non-fatal strangulation offence, 1 000 people were charged with choking or suffocation offences.
Criticism & Opposition
Opposition leader Jess Wilson argued the reforms arrived “too late,” noting that family-violence incidents have risen nearly 30 percent over the past decade and that the government has failed to deliver on earlier promises. Wilson also raised concerns that the new laws could be misapplied against innocent women falsely accused of coercive crimes.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
The disparity highlights a gap in consistent national statistics on violence-related suicides. The proposed “slow femicide” offence has no precedent in Australian law, leaving unanswered questions about evidentiary standards and prosecutorial guidance.
Verbatim Quotes
- “These reforms should be accompanied by sustained investment across the family and sexual violence sectors so that stronger laws translate into better outcomes for victim-survivors in practice,” — El-Matrah, chief executive of Safe and Equal
- “These changes will hold perpetrators to account and set the standard for what Victorians will never tolerate,” — Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny
What’s Next
If Labor secures a majority in the November election, the government plans to introduce the new offences and sentencing reforms before the end of the parliamentary term. Legislative amendments to the Evidence Act—aimed at preventing “humiliating” and “invasive” cross-examination—are also slated for introduction pending the election outcome.