SSA Lexicon · Safeguarding vocabulary

Glossary of Coercive Control

A controlled human-readable and machine-readable vocabulary for recognising, describing and reasoning about observable behaviours, effects and patterns associated with coercive control.

Version 1.0.0 Status Canonical Language en-AU Namespace CC-*

Important decision boundary

This glossary supports recognition of observable behaviours, impacts and patterns.

It does not determine that a person is experiencing coercive control, determine that another person has committed abuse, or establish that a criminal or civil legal test has been met.

Individual behaviours can have different meanings depending on context. Appropriate assessment considers the surrounding relationship, repetition, fear, autonomy, consequences for resistance, dependency, escalation, counterevidence and alternative explanations.

Digital safety

Some people experiencing coercive control may have their devices, accounts, communications or browsing activity monitored.

Accessing information about coercive control can therefore carry different risks for different people. Systems presenting this glossary should avoid automatically preserving sensitive searches, disclosures or identifying information where this is not necessary.

Coercive control

For this glossary, coercive control means a pattern of abusive behaviours used over time in a way that creates or maintains power, dominance or control over another person and may produce fear, constrain liberty, reduce autonomy, create dependency or restrict the person's practical ability to make and act on independent choices.

Coercive control may involve physical or non-physical behaviour, or a combination of both.

Canonical reasoning model

Observation Evidence Indicator Pattern Risk assessment Safeguarding action Authorised human decision

Automated systems should reason from observations toward candidate interpretations rather than working backwards from an assumption that coercive control exists.

Canonical machine object family

CC-OBSERVATION

Observation

A factual, reported or machine-detected observation.

CC-EVIDENCE

Evidence

Information supporting, contradicting or contextualising an interpretation.

CC-INDICATOR

Indicator

A canonical concept potentially relevant to coercive control.

CC-PATTERN

Pattern

A meaningful relationship among multiple observations or indicators.

CC-TEMPORAL-PATTERN

Temporal pattern

A relationship whose meaning depends on repetition, sequence or escalation over time.

CC-IMPACT

Impact

A reported or observable effect associated with conduct.

CC-RISK-ASSESSMENT

Risk assessment

An explainable synthesis of evidence, patterns, counterevidence and uncertainty.

CC-SAFEGUARDING-ACTION

Safeguarding action

A protective, referral or specialist-review action.

CC-JURISDICTION-RULE

Jurisdiction rule

A representation of a jurisdiction-specific legal definition, status or requirement.

CC-MACHINE-POLICY

Machine policy

Rules governing safe automated use of the vocabulary.

Threats and intimidation

Threat of violence: A threat to physically harm a person where the threat may be used to frighten, intimidate, compel or control.; CCI-THREAT-VIOLENCE
Threats against family or significant people: Threatening harm or adverse consequences to people important to the subject as a means of influencing behaviour.; CCI-THREAT-FAMILY
Threats involving children: Using threatened harm, removal, withholding, manipulation or consequences involving a child as a means of control.; CCI-THREAT-CHILDREN
Threat of self-harm used as control: Threatening self-harm in circumstances where the threat is being used to frighten, compel or prevent another person from exercising autonomy.; CCI-THREAT-SELF-HARM-AS-CONTROL
Threat to reputation: Threatening humiliation, disclosure or reputational damage in order to compel behaviour.; CCI-THREAT-REPUTATION
Threat involving authorities: Using actual or threatened involvement of institutions or authorities as a mechanism of control.; CCI-THREAT-AUTHORITY
Threat to housing: Threatening homelessness, eviction or loss of accommodation as a means of control.; CCI-THREAT-HOUSING
Threat to employment: Threatening employment, income or professional consequences to compel behaviour.; CCI-THREAT-EMPLOYMENT
Immigration-related threat: Using immigration status, visa dependency or threatened reporting to migration authorities as a means of control.; CCI-THREAT-IMMIGRATION

Surveillance and monitoring

Location monitoring: Repeated or intrusive monitoring of a person's location where it contributes to control, fear or loss of autonomy.; CCI-SURVEILLANCE-LOCATION
Device monitoring: Monitoring or accessing another person's digital devices in circumstances associated with control.; CCI-SURVEILLANCE-DEVICE
Communication monitoring: Monitoring, intercepting or requiring disclosure of private communications as part of controlling conduct.; CCI-SURVEILLANCE-COMMUNICATION
Account monitoring: Monitoring financial, social, email or other accounts in a way that contributes to control or surveillance.; CCI-SURVEILLANCE-ACCOUNT
Reporting requirement: Requiring a person to continually account for their location, activities or social contact where refusal carries consequences.; CCI-SURVEILLANCE-REPORTING-REQUIREMENT

Isolation

Isolation from family: Preventing, discouraging or materially interfering with relationships or communication with family.; CCI-ISOLATION-FAMILY
Isolation from friends: Restricting or undermining a person's ability to maintain friendships.; CCI-ISOLATION-FRIENDS
Work isolation: Preventing or interfering with employment or workplace relationships as a mechanism of control.; CCI-ISOLATION-WORK
Community isolation: Restricting participation in community, cultural, religious, sporting or social activities.; CCI-ISOLATION-COMMUNITY
Communication isolation: Restricting independent access to phones, internet, messaging, email or other communications.; CCI-ISOLATION-COMMUNICATION
Isolation from support services: Preventing or materially interfering with access to health, legal, disability, social or safeguarding services.; CCI-ISOLATION-SUPPORT-SERVICES

Economic and financial control

Income control: Taking, redirecting, withholding or controlling another person's income in circumstances that reduce financial autonomy.; CCI-ECONOMIC-INCOME-CONTROL
Bank-account control: Exercising unreasonable or coerced control over another person's bank account or access to funds.; CCI-ECONOMIC-BANK-ACCOUNT-CONTROL
Spending restriction: Imposing controlling restrictions on ordinary expenditure where those restrictions are not freely agreed.; CCI-ECONOMIC-SPENDING-RESTRICTION
Coerced debt: Forcing, pressuring or deceptively causing another person to acquire debt or financial liabilities.; CCI-ECONOMIC-COERCED-DEBT
Withheld resources: Unreasonably withholding money or essential resources needed for ordinary living, care or safety.; CCI-ECONOMIC-WITHHELD-RESOURCES
Employment interference: Preventing, sabotaging or materially interfering with another person's employment or earning capacity.; CCI-ECONOMIC-EMPLOYMENT-INTERFERENCE

Movement and autonomy

Restriction of movement: Behaviour restricting where another person may go, when they may leave or their practical freedom of movement.; CCI-MOVEMENT-RESTRICTION
Confinement: Preventing or materially obstructing a person's ability to leave a physical place.; CCI-MOVEMENT-CONFINEMENT
Transport control: Controlling access to transport in a way that materially limits independence or access to assistance.; CCI-MOVEMENT-TRANSPORT-CONTROL
Permission requirement: Requiring permission before leaving, travelling or undertaking ordinary activities where non-compliance carries consequences.; CCI-MOVEMENT-PERMISSION-REQUIREMENT
Daily activity control: Controlling ordinary activities such as eating, sleeping, dressing, working, studying or socialising as part of a broader pattern.; CCI-MOVEMENT-DAILY-ACTIVITY-CONTROL

Identity, documents and credentials

Passport control: Withholding or controlling another person's passport in circumstances that limit practical autonomy.; CCI-DOCUMENT-PASSPORT
Identity-document control: Withholding or controlling identity documents where this contributes to dependency or reduced autonomy.; CCI-DOCUMENT-IDENTITY
Financial-document control: Restricting access to financial records required for independent financial decision-making.; CCI-DOCUMENT-FINANCIAL
Account-credential control: Taking or retaining credentials for digital, financial or other accounts in a way that reduces independent control.; CCI-CREDENTIAL-ACCOUNT-ACCESS

Dependency

Housing dependency: Creating or exploiting reliance on another person for accommodation as part of a controlling pattern.; CCI-DEPENDENCY-HOUSING
Financial dependency: Creating or deliberately maintaining financial reliance as a mechanism of control.; CCI-DEPENDENCY-FINANCIAL
Immigration dependency: Exploiting immigration, sponsorship or visa dependency as a mechanism of control.; CCI-DEPENDENCY-IMMIGRATION
Care dependency: Exploiting reliance on another person for personal care, medication, mobility, communication or daily assistance.; CCI-DEPENDENCY-CARE

Psychological control

Humiliation: Repeated or strategically used conduct intended to humiliate and contribute to domination or compliance.; CCI-PSYCHOLOGICAL-HUMILIATION
Degradation: Conduct that persistently demeans or devalues another person as part of a controlling pattern.; CCI-PSYCHOLOGICAL-DEGRADATION
Intimidation: Conduct creating apprehension or fear that is used to influence another person's behaviour.; CCI-PSYCHOLOGICAL-INTIMIDATION
Induced fear: Conduct causing or maintaining fear that materially affects another person's behaviour or autonomy.; CCI-PSYCHOLOGICAL-INDUCED-FEAR
Unpredictable punishment: Unpredictable adverse consequences for ordinary conduct or perceived non-compliance that produce vigilance, uncertainty or submission.; CCI-PSYCHOLOGICAL-UNPREDICTABLE-PUNISHMENT

Technology-facilitated control

Password control: Demanding, taking or controlling another person's authentication credentials in circumstances contributing to surveillance or domination.; CCI-DIGITAL-PASSWORD-CONTROL
Account takeover: Taking control of another person's digital account without meaningful consent or preventing them from regaining independent access.; CCI-DIGITAL-ACCOUNT-TAKEOVER
Digital location tracking: Using technology to monitor another person's location as part of a controlling pattern.; CCI-DIGITAL-LOCATION-TRACKING
Digital impersonation: Using another person's digital identity or accounts to impersonate them in circumstances associated with harassment, deception or control.; CCI-DIGITAL-IMPERSONATION
Communication interference: Blocking, deleting, intercepting or otherwise interfering with independent communication.; CCI-DIGITAL-COMMUNICATION-INTERFERENCE

Post-separation control

Controlling behaviour can continue, change form or escalate after a relationship ends.

Post-separation stalking: Stalking conduct following separation that forms part of an ongoing attempt to monitor, intimidate or control.; CCI-POSTSEP-STALKING
Persistent unwanted contact: Repeated unwanted communication after separation where its context or effect contributes to intimidation or control.; CCI-POSTSEP-UNWANTED-CONTACT
Financial interference: Using financial arrangements, liabilities or resources after separation to continue control.; CCI-POSTSEP-FINANCIAL-INTERFERENCE
Third-party control: Using other people to monitor, contact, intimidate, influence or otherwise exert control.; CCI-POSTSEP-THIRD-PARTY-CONTROL
Systems abuse: Using legal, administrative, institutional or complaint processes as part of a pattern intended to intimidate, exhaust, punish or maintain control.; CCI-POSTSEP-SYSTEMS-ABUSE

Impact vocabulary

CCI-IMPACT-FEAR CCI-IMPACT-REDUCED-AUTONOMY CCI-IMPACT-SOCIAL-ISOLATION CCI-IMPACT-FINANCIAL-DEPENDENCY CCI-IMPACT-HOUSING-INSECURITY CCI-IMPACT-EMPLOYMENT-DISRUPTION CCI-IMPACT-DIGITAL-EXCLUSION CCI-IMPACT-CHANGED-BEHAVIOUR CCI-IMPACT-SELF-CENSORSHIP CCI-IMPACT-RESTRICTED-MOVEMENT CCI-IMPACT-DEPENDENCY

Impact does not need to be reduced to physical injury. Fear, constrained decision-making, changed behaviour, isolation and loss of practical independence can all be relevant to pattern assessment.

Canonical pattern vocabulary

CCP-AUTONOMY-EROSION

Progressive erosion of autonomy

Multiple behaviours progressively reduce a person's practical ability to make or act on independent choices.

CCP-ISOLATION-DEPENDENCY

Isolation-dependency

Increasing isolation accompanied by increasing practical, financial, technological or care dependency.

CCP-SURVEILLANCE-INTIMIDATION

Surveillance-intimidation

Monitoring accompanied by threatened or actual consequences.

CCP-ECONOMIC-DEPENDENCY

Economic dependency

Economic control creates, increases or maintains reliance on another person.

CCP-DIGITAL-CONTROL

Digital control

Technology is systematically used to monitor, restrict, intimidate or control.

CCP-ESCALATING-CONTROL

Escalating control

Controlling behaviour increases in frequency, severity, scope or consequences over time.

CCP-POST-SEPARATION-CONTROL

Post-separation control

Control continues, changes form or escalates after a relationship ends.

CCP-MULTI-DOMAIN-CONTROL

Multi-domain control

Control simultaneously affects several areas of a person's life.

CCP-FEAR-COMPLIANCE

Fear-compliance

A person changes their behaviour because they anticipate consequences for non-compliance.

Evidence and counterevidence

Machine assessment must not operate as a one-way accumulation of suspicious indicators.

Relationship	Meaning
`supporting`	Evidence supports an indicator or pattern interpretation.
`corroborating`	Independent information strengthens existing evidence.
`counterevidence`	Information weakens or contradicts an interpretation.
`alternative_explanation`	Information provides a plausible non-coercive explanation.
`uncertain`	Available information cannot currently be assigned sufficient reliability.

Agency

voluntary requested pressured coerced compelled unknown

Revocability

freely_revocable revocable_with_consequences not_revocable unknown

Australian jurisdiction layer

Australian coercive-control law is jurisdiction-specific. A semantic indicator does not establish that the legal requirements of a particular criminal, civil or family-law provision have been satisfied.

Commonwealth

national_framework_and_family_law

National principles provide a shared understanding of coercive control, while Commonwealth family law separately recognises coercive or controlling family violence.

New South Wales

standalone_criminal_offence_in_force

The standalone offence commenced on 1 July 2024 and concerns repeated abusive behaviour toward a current or former intimate partner under the applicable statutory requirements.

Queensland

standalone_criminal_offence_in_force

The standalone offence commenced on 26 May 2025 and operates within Queensland's domestic-relationship framework.

South Australia

legislated_not_yet_commenced

Legislation has been passed, but systems must verify commencement before representing the standalone offence as operative.

Australian Capital Territory

bill_introduced_not_in_force

A coercive-control Bill was introduced in 2026. Machine systems must verify legislative and commencement status before treating a standalone offence as operative.

Victoria

family_violence_framework

Coercive and controlling conduct is recognised through the broader family-violence framework.

Western Australia

family_violence_framework

Coercive and controlling behaviour is recognised within the family-violence framework.

Tasmania

specific_family_violence_offences_and_framework

The family-violence framework includes specific economic abuse and emotional abuse or intimidation offences.

Northern Territory

express_statutory_definition

Coercive control is expressly defined within the Territory's domestic and family violence legislation.

Machine policy

AI may

recognise possible indicators;
translate everyday descriptions into candidate concepts;
correlate observations across time;
identify possible escalation;
recognise multi-domain patterns;
surface evidence and counterevidence;
represent uncertainty;
identify applicable jurisdiction information;
explain why a concern was surfaced;
recommend appropriate human safeguarding review.

AI must not

automatically label someone an abuser;
automatically label someone a victim-survivor;
represent a safeguarding assessment as a legal finding;
assume one jurisdiction's offence applies nationally;
infer abuse from demographic characteristics;
equate ordinary disagreement with coercive control;
treat consensual arrangements as abusive without context;
automatically contact the person suspected of exercising control;
unnecessarily disclose sensitive information;
initiate punitive action solely from an automated assessment.

Recognising people's own words

People do not need to know the technical vocabulary of coercive control before their experiences can be understood.

“I have to tell them everywhere I go.”

“They check my phone.”

“I'm scared of what happens if I say no.”

“They control all the money.”

“I'm not allowed to see my family.”

“They changed my passwords.”

These expressions are examples of language that may prompt evaluation of relevant indicators.

They are not keyword rules and must not independently establish coercive control.

Cross-glossary interoperability

Similar observable conduct can occur in different forms of exploitation or abuse. Related concepts may therefore be linked across the SSA Lexicon without asserting that they are equivalent.

Coercive-control concept	Related human-trafficking concept
`CCI-MOVEMENT-RESTRICTION`	`HTI-RESTRICTION-OF-MOVEMENT`
`CCI-DOCUMENT-PASSPORT`	`HTI-DOCUMENT-RETENTION`
`CCI-PSYCHOLOGICAL-INTIMIDATION`	`HTI-THREATS`
`CCI-ECONOMIC-INCOME-CONTROL`	`HTI-WAGE-WITHHOLDING`

The relationship means related concept, not identical meaning or legal equivalence.

Provenance

The glossary's Australian conceptual foundation is informed by the National Principles to Address Coercive Control in Family and Domestic Violence and relevant Commonwealth, state and territory legislative frameworks.

Jurisdiction-specific information should retain source authority, legislative status, effective or commencement date, retrieval date and verification status in machine-readable representations.

National authority

Australian Government Attorney-General's Department


          National Principles to Address Coercive Control in
          Family and Domestic Violence

Source class

Government policy, legislation and official legal information

Jurisdiction policy

Legal status is stored separately from semantic recognition.

Canonical publication identity

Title: Glossary of Coercive Control
Version: 1.0.0
Status: Canonical
Primary namespace: CCI-*
Pattern namespace: CCP-*
Canonical URL: https://www.mcloughlin.world/glossaries/ssa-lexicon/glossary-of-coercive-control/

Canonical principle

People describe experiences. Machines identify candidate concepts. Evidence establishes context. Patterns support assessment. Jurisdiction rules determine legal relevance. Authorised humans make consequential decisions.