‘Critical, overdue’: Police to get on-the-spot protection powers for DV victims

Queensland Police will be able to issue on-the-spot protection orders for people experiencing domestic and family violence, among changes advocates say will reduce the strain on frontline workers.

Under current laws, police attending DFV incidents can hand a five-day Police Protection Notice to alleged perpetrators requiring them not to commit domestic violence and to be of good behaviour towards the person named in the order. Beyond that, matters are pursued in court.

But in a move to improve victim-survivor safety and speed up court proceedings, the state government said it would give police new powers to issue immediate 12-month Police Protection Directions.

Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence Amanda Camm says the reforms are about protecting victims and holding perpetrators to account. Credit: Queensland government

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Police Minister Dan Purdie said the changes were “critical, overdue and urgent”.

“Over the last 10 years, calls for service from our police in relation to domestic violence have increased 20 per cent year-on-year,” Purdie said.

Queensland Police received almost 200,000 DFV-related calls in 2024, with reports showing police were responding to an occurrence every three minutes.

Purdie said DFV reports require hours of additional police work to complete associated paperwork, and data shows it takes 4.6 hours on average for an officer to respond to each incident.

“Policing has been crumbling under this pressure.”

Officers would be able to issue the 12-month protection orders from January 1, 2026, but how they investigate DFV allegations would not change.

Minister for Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Amanda Camm said the first tranche of changes would also include 150 new GPS monitoring devices for high-risk offenders.

And a trial of video-recorded court evidence for DFV victims in Southport, Coolangatta and Ipswich would be expanded across the state.

Earlier this week, the LNP announced it would add more than a dozen offences to its “adult crime, adult time” laws – bringing the full list to 33 – and move to make permanent Jack’s Law, which enables police to use metal detectors without a warrant.

The Making Queensland Safer legislation would be updated so children could be sentenced as adults for offences including rape, aggravated attempted robbery, attempted murder, arson and torture.

The Crisafulli government said the expanded list of offences followed recommendations from an expert legal panel that was established to consider further and more complex crimes.

It had also consulted stakeholders from across Queensland, including youth detention workers, legal professionals and victim support groups.

Opposition Leader Steven Miles called on the government to make the legal panel’s findings public.

“The independent expert panel must front the justice committee, and the committee must release the panel’s full report, including consultation results, the crime data, case law, harm indexes, victim impact analysis, and the advice provided to government,” Miles said.

If you or someone you know needs help or support, contact DV Connect on 1800 811 811 or 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or the Brisbane Domestic Violence Service on 07 3217 2544.

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