Barnardos Australia warns that children in regional NSW are bearing the brunt of coercive control, as new crime statistics reveal rural communities are experiencing dramatically higher rates than other areas.
The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research quarterly report shows regional NSW recorded 170 coercive control incidents from July 2024 to June 2025 compared to 127 in Greater Sydney, with some regional areas experiencing rates more than three times the state average.
The Far West and Orana region recorded the highest rate at 11 incidents per 100,000 people, followed by Central West at 10.7 per 100,000. These areas are both more than triple the state rate of 3.6 incidents per 100,000 people.
Children in these communities are witnessing psychological abuse including harassment, financial control and threats that will traumatise them for life.
"The data shows that children in regional and rural areas are trapped in a perfect storm: higher rates of coercive control, limited access to support services and greater social isolation," Barnardos Australia Program Manager Mark Hoare said.
"When we see areas like Far West NSW recording three times the number of incidents as Sydney, it's clear that thousands of children are growing up watching their mothers being systematically controlled and intimidated with nowhere to turn to for help."
The quarterly report shows 59 per cent of cases involved harassment and monitoring, while financial abuse affected 48 per cent of victims across the state.
Barnardos Australia is calling on state and federal governments to recognise children as victim-survivors of domestic violence and coercive control in their own right, ensuring they receive dedicated support services and are prioritised alongside their parents.
"These controlling behaviours are being experienced by mothers and children daily in the family home," Mr Hoare said.
"These children often have no escape and they're paying the ultimate price, and in rural and regional areas there's often limited access to specialist support services.
"Children are trapped in dangerous situations. The data shows only 9 charges were laid from 297 incidents over the past year and of these only one was proven while two were withdrawn. Of all the incidents across the states, more than half result in no charges."
