Victorians are being called on to shape improvements to the State’s police oversight system, as part of the Department of Justice and Community Services’ systemic review, launched earlier this year.
Announcing the opening of public consultation, Attorney-General, Jaclyn Symes said the Department’s Review was in response to a recommendation of the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants and the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission’s (IBAC) 2018 Inquiry into the external oversight of police corruption and misconduct in Victoria.
Ms Symes said submissions on the Department’s Consultation paper: Systemic review of police oversight were welcome from all Victorians, but particularly from people who had lived experience of police misconduct and complaints mechanisms.
“Reviewers are also looking for input from Aboriginal people, children and young people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, people from the LGBTIQ+ community, women and survivors of family violence, and people experiencing social or economic disadvantage on these vital reforms,” she said.
“This input will be invaluable in building an oversight system that better meets community expectations, ensures people feel safe in making complaints about police conduct and supports Victoria Police to uphold the highest standards of accountability and integrity.”
Ms Symes said the Review aimed to ensure the State’s police oversight system was strong, transparent and met the needs of diverse communities.
The Attorney-General said consultation was open until 1 February and legislation to reform the oversight system was expected to be introduced next year.
Commissioner for IBAC, Robert Redlich welcomed the release of the Consultation Paper and the potential for the Review to help deliver additional oversight capabilities to IBAC.
“We would welcome the ability to do more, however, as we have informed the Government and said publicly many times, we cannot increase our oversight activities without additional funding and legislative change,” Commissioner Redlich said.
“Put simply, we cannot do more without more,” he said.
“The 2018 IBAC Committee report found that IBAC’s resources and powers have several limitations and recommended enhancing both.”
The Commissioner said while IBAC had received some additional funding in recent budget cycles, it was not ongoing or commensurate with the growth in police numbers.
“The lack of powers and resources significantly impacts IBAC’s ability to investigate some of the serious police misconduct complaints referred to us; as a result we have to be extremely selective in what we investigate,” Commissioner Redlich said.
The Department’s 19-page Consultation Paper can be downloaded at this PS News link.
