Regional Victorians are being called on to speak out against police misconduct as the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) relaunches its You have the right to not remain silent campaign.
Executive Director of Prevention and Communication at IBAC, Linda Timothy said the campaign aimed to raise awareness of IBAC’s police oversight role and empower members of the community to report suspected police misconduct or provide information anonymously.
“In IBAC’s Victorian community perceptions of corruption survey, 71 per cent of people felt police misconduct happened, but that percentage rose to 77 per cent for people who identified as being a part of the LGBTIQ+ community,” Dr Timothy said.
“The survey results also showed people understood that police taking bribes was considered corruption, but misconduct such as a police officer using racial slurs or repeatedly asking a person on a date was not as easily identified as misconduct,” she said.
“In addition to this, IBAC’s intelligence suggests there may be incidents of police misconduct that go unreported by the public, particularly in parts of regional Victoria.”
Dr Timothy said IBAC could take complaints about a range of police misconduct from serious or systemic corruption through to less serious instances of police misconduct.
She said police misconduct included excessive use of force, breaches of human rights, bribery, disclosing sensitive police information, cover-ups and fraud.
The IBAC Executive Director said it also included discrimination or prejudice based on race, religion, disability, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or other characteristics.
“We recognise how challenging it can be for someone to make a complaint about suspected police misconduct,” Dr Timothy said.
“These challenges may arise for social, economic, or cultural reasons or because it can be difficult to speak out.
“If someone feels more comfortable, they can provide information to IBAC anonymously.”
She said that to reach the diverse Victorian community, the campaign had been translated into seven languages: Arabic, Cantonese, Dari, Hindi, Karen, Mandarin and Vietnamese.
Further information on reporting police misconduct to IBAC can be accessed at this PS News link.
