QLD Government + Khemistry raise awareness of coercive control in ‘See the Patterns’ campaign
Behaviour change agency Khemistry has unveiled its latest campaign for the Queensland Government, aimed at raising awareness about coercive control. The campaign, titled “See the Patterns” focuses on educating the public about the signs of coercive control, an underpinning dynamic of domestic and family violence that is often hard to identify.
Coercive control is an ongoing pattern of abusive behaviours – which doesn’t always include physical violence – used against a person to control or dominate them. It creates a climate of fear, humiliation, isolation and dependence.
“Right now, only 2 in 5 Australians know what coercive control is. We were truly honoured and committed to doing our part in supporting the protection of Queenslanders by helping bystanders and victim-survivors trust their gut in what they may be seeing or feeling,” said Jo Millington, General Manager.
The Department of Justice and Attorney-General said the campaign is part of a broader program of work to better prevent, address and respond to domestic and family violence, ensuring safer and more informed communities.
The campaign highlights different abusive behaviours, like stalking, and financial, psychological or emotional abuse. It shows how the community can recognise the signs of coercive control and demonstrates how the behaviours can be subtle and escalate over time.
The campaign aims to raise awareness of coercive control and its impacts among Queenslanders and to inform the community of the upcoming legislative changes to criminalise coercive control. The standalone offence of coercive control commences on 26 May 2025 and carries a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment.
Kelly Brightwell, Executive Strategy Director, explained “While physical violence is called out, as a society we tend to overlook or minimise coercive control behaviours by using language like ‘protective’ or ‘worried’ to describe the behaviours of the person using violence. Disrupting that apathy was key to getting Queenslanders to take notice”.
ECD Brent Liebenberg builds on this “This wasn’t the place for analogies – countless women are in danger because they may not recognise the seriousness of the situation they’re in. The behaviour follows a pattern that’s easier to identify if you know what to look for, so clear, hard-hitting creative was paramount.”
The campaign is a fully integrated initiative running across TV, social, print, convenience, cinema, radio and digital across Queensland.
For more information on the campaign, please visit www.qld.gov.au/coercivecontrol.
Department of Justice and Attorney-General Strategic Communications
Marketing Team Leader – Nicole Copeland
Senior Marketing Officer – Laura Mac Kenzie
Creative Agency: Khemistry
General Manager – Jo Millington
Executive Strategy Director – Kelly Brightwell
Executive Creative Director – Brent Liebenberg
Head of Art – Lauren FitzGerald
Copywriter – Kelly Brightwell
Senior Art Director – Kory McAvoy
Senior Account Manager – Mila King
Account Executive – Wendy Phan
Head of Production – Robbie Dodd
Finished Art – Stephen Wallwork
Production Company: Taxi Film Production
Director – Siobhan Mulready
DOP – Jason Hargreaves
Executive Producer – Andrew Wareham
Producer – Imogen Dick
Special Contributor – Emma Freeman
Photographer – Aubrey Jonsson, Compadre
Retoucher – Derek Leong, DekArt
Post Production – Cutting Edge
Visual Talent:
George Oates – Collective Talent Management
Joel Pierce – Kubler Auckland Management
Nathan Simon – Freelance House
7 Comments
Hmmm, such gender diversity.
(coercive control is not only perpetrated by males)
Ugh, really dude?
Kinda missed the mark and inaccurate. This focuses more on what’s being said rather than how they make you feel…
True. But women are far less likely to jump in a car at a traffic light and set their ex and kids on fire.
I hope this works I really do, but it just feels watered down and hampered by a cheesy performance and “visit the website” script.
Could have done more to get under your skin and make you feel like things aren’t what they seem or shown what some of this behaviour looks like rather than “I’m a bad guy with a smile” that’s exceptionally easy to dismiss.
Pretty pictures but on the content front felt like the usual government ad by committee.
It’s the ads that take a risk that become memorable and sit in the back of mind and maybe make a difference…these are the ones you race to skip in the first 5 seconds as there is nothing there to hold the viewer a split second longer.
skip skip skip skip