Police Corruption and Misconduct
MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (18:10:36): My adjournment matter is for the Special Minister of State. As the minister is aware, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission Committee last year inquired into, considered and reported on the external oversight and investigation of police corruption and misconduct in Victoria.
The extensive bipartisan report made 69 sweeping recommendations to improve the transparency, impartiality, effectiveness and efficiency of the system, determining that serious police misconduct should not be left to the police to investigate and that probes should instead be conducted by Victoria’s corruption watchdog, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission. In fact recommendation 2 says: … IBAC should formally establish a dedicated Police Corruption and Misconduct Division to increase public confidence in Victoria’s system for the handling of complaints about police corruption and other misconduct, improve its capacity to conduct effective investigations, enhance its independence, develop its expertise and improve its overall performance.
This division should consolidate IBAC’s legislated functions that relate to complaints and disclosures about police corruption and other misconduct in Victoria. This was a very sensible recommendation and, as I say, it was a multipartisan committee. In fact the report is very extensive and runs to 700 pages. Unfortunately it was not tabled until September so the government did not respond to the inquiry in the 58th Parliament.
This is something that I am interested in—what happens to all of the recommendations from all of the very good inquiries that are done in this place? One day I will have time to go and form a list of the recommendations that have been made, the ones that the government of the day has agreed to and which ones have actually been enacted or just ignored. So the action I seek from the minister tonight is a commitment to implement the report’s recommendation in this term of government to ensure that serious complaints about police are independently investigated.
Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment matter raised 1/5/19
Answer
Mr JENNINGS (South Eastern Metropolitan—Leader of the Government, Special Minister of State, Minister for Priority Precincts, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs):
The Government is currently considering recommendations directed to it in the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) Committee’s report on the Inquiry into the external oversight of police corruption and misconduct in Victoria (report), and will table a Government Response in Parliament in due course.
I note recommendation 2 in the report, that IBAC should formally establish a dedicated Police Corruption and Misconduct Division, is directed to IBAC. As IBAC is an independent body, the Government cannot commit IBAC to implement this recommendation.
The Government is committed to:
• supporting the ongoing role of IBAC in the external oversight of police;
• ensuring both IBAC and Victoria Police continue to play important roles in embedding and upholding integrity within Victoria Police;
• ensuring that IBAC has all the powers necessary to effectively oversee and investigate allegations of police misconduct and corruption; and
• providing a police complaints system that is transparent, accessible, and focused on improving the experience and protecting the well-being of complainants.
The Government will continue to work with stakeholders and the community to progress this important work.