Queensland Police commission of inquiry report’s release

Under fire Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll has given a warning to officers who faced a flawed disciplinary process with little repercussion, as a commission of inquiry report into the service is set to be released.

Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll says “imminent action” is coming for officers who faced a flawed disciplinary process with little repercussion, as a commission of inquiry report into the service to be released on Monday is expected to be scathing.

Speaking on the Gold Coast on Sunday Ms Carroll, who has faced mounting pressure over her leadership, said she wanted Queenslanders to have confidence in her to deliver reforms as findings from the commission of inquiry into the police response to domestic and family violence are made public.

It comes as a petition before parliament has more than 1000 signatures asking for her resignation for failing to address a culture of sexist, misogynist and racist conduct within the service.

“I do want the public and Queenslanders to have high confidence that I have commenced earnest reform over the last three years,” Ms Carroll said.

Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll on the Gold Coast on Sunday. Picture: Richard Gosling

Counsel assisting the inquiry Ruth O’Gorman KC detailed multiple cases in which male police officers had not been properly disciplined for creepy and frightening sexual behaviour towards female colleagues.

Ms Carroll was grilled at the inquiry and denied a widespread cultural problem with police; however, agreed there were issues relating to sexism, misogyny and racism.

The inquiry was told of an officer threatening rape, multiple cases of unwanted touching an officer and another who threatened to punch a superior in the “c--t”.

Many of the male officers who were the subject of sexual harassment allegations were dealt with by local managerial guidance where they were spoken to by a senior officer, in a system Ms Carroll agreed was “broken”.

Ms Carroll then said she would undertake a review of those cases. On Sunday Ms Carroll said the investigations were still ongoing.

“There are matters that we are going to imminently move on,” she said.

“I won’t go into a lot of detail about that; they are complex investigations and quite comprehensive reviews.

“So when you have a review of that, you have to go back in history and see what action has been taken and what further action needs to be taken. Some of it is actually getting legal advice as to what can be done.”

Ms Carroll said after shortfalls in the local managerial system were highlighted she acted on it immediately.

“So all of that now – whether it be misogyny, sexism, racism, or homophobia or workplace bullying – is being case managed at the ethical standards command by a very, very senior officer and a group of people that is looking at every matter that comes in.

“It creates consistency, it elevates the seriousness of it which is incredibly important. But on top of that we’re about to put a psychologist with that team to encourage people to come forward and to really support those complainants and witnesses and refer them to other areas if need be.”

Asked if police should no longer investigate police, Ms Carroll said further overview, transparency and independence were incredibly important.

“We’ve identified issues, we’re dealing with them, the organisation has a history of getting better at managing these issues,” she said.

Police Minister Mark Ryan said he had read the report but would not comment until after its public release.