Abstract
The murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children in 2020 was a catalyst for the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce recommendation that CC be a criminal offence in its own right in Queensland. This article examines the scope of CC, the harm done to victims of CC, and the pros and cons of criminalising CC. A comparative analysis of the Scottish CC offence, which is described as the “gold standard”, the new New South Wales and the new Queensland CC offence, is undertaken in this research. Most notably, the new Queensland CC offence is broader than the Scottish CC offence, and thus has capacity to capture more CC behaviour. Both Queensland, New South Wales and Scotland could improve the protection of children as primary and co-victims.