The Survivor’s View
When a standalone law for coercive control was introduced, we created a podcast to help staff in the NSW justice system better understand what it’s like for victim-survivors.
Please Note: the podcast artwork and title featured above is for display purposes only and was not used for the series.
This series was produced as a strictly internal podcast – not for public release.
THE BRIEF:
In 2022, the NSW Parliament passed legislation that addressed patterns of behaviour not caught by the existing domestic violence legislation – the use of coercive control.
However, the offence did not become law until the July 2024. This was to allow for widespread education and training to all involved agencies and organisations, and to the community more generally.
The office of the Department of Public Prosecutions asked Audiocraft to make an educational podcast series. The aim for the series was to have people with lived experience of coercive control share their experiences so that staff in the justice system could gain a greater understanding of what coercive control is, how it impacts victim-survivors, and how we might approach it from a criminal justice viewpoint.
The audience for this series included Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) staff: Solicitors, Solicitor Advocates, Crown Prosecutors and Witness Assistance Service Officers, as well as judicial officers (Magistrates and Judges) at the Judicial Commission.
WHAT WE DID:
In this five-episode interview series, we hear directly from victim-survivors of coercive control. Each episode has a theme, but at its core is the lived-experience of that survivor. Their stories help us understand some of the abusive behaviours that constitute coercive control and its long-lasting impact. These stories are a showcase of their courage and resilience — but also the difficulties of recognising coercive behaviours for those people in a coercive relationship.
The series producer, Marcus Costello, prepared research briefs and interview briefs for series host, Annabelle Daniel, the Chief Executive of Women’s Community Shelters. Annabelle is also a victim-survivor of DV and has a background in law, so she brought a wealth of experience to the role.
Interviewees were sourced from the Government’s Coercive Control Taskforce Lived Expertise Reference Group. These members represented a diversity of ages, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, cultures and socio-economic status. The identities of all of the members featured in the series were anonymised for survivor safety.
CREDITS:
Publisher: Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Host: Annabelle Daniel
Producer: Marcus Costello
Audio Engineer: Laura Brierley Newton
Executive Producer: Kate Montague