Queensland Government consider specialist domestic violence police station proposed for Kirwan, Logan

A Brisbane suburb, and a Townsville suburb have some of the worst rates of domestic violence in Queensland, with skyrocketing increases to breaches of domestic violence orders.

The state government is considering a proposal to open a specialist domestic violence police station in Townsville as the number of DVO breaches in the city continues to skyrocket.

The Department of Justice and Attorney-General and Queensland Police Service (QPS) are currently considering recommendations from the Hannah Clarke inquest to urgently fund a 12-month trial of a specialist domestic violence police station in either Kirwan or Logan – where DV incidents are highest in Queensland.

The coroner investigating the deaths of Hannah Clarke and her children said the station should at least include specialist DV police and support workers, along with a lawyer to provide legal advice to police and victims and employees from child safety, housing and health.

It comes as the Townsville Domestic, Family Violence and Vulnerable Persons Unit is expanding, with 13 positions added to the unit to support an investigations team, an operations team and a proactive engagement team.

Hannah Clarke and her three young children died after they were set alight by estranged father and husband Rowan Baxter in Brisbane in early 2020.

New officers will include a detective senior sergeant, a detective sergeant, a sergeant and 10 officers (constables and senior constables), in addition to the five permanent officers.

A government spokesman said the unit will be housed in the new state-of-the-art purpose-built police facility at Kirwan when it is completed at the former 1300 SMILES Stadium site.

It comes as Townsville has recorded a massive 89 per cent increase in Domestic Violence Protection Order breaches since 2015, with almost 4000 breaches documented in the 12 months to May 2023, according to police data.

Shadow Minister for the Prevention of Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Amanda Camm said the drastic rise in breaches was “extremely concerning”.

But police believe there are likely many factors contributing to the rise, with increasing public confidence in reporting DV breaches to police being one of them.

“Domestic violence is now not a taboo subject and one that is promoted and talked about increasingly in the public arena including to raise community awareness,” a QPS spokeswoman said.

Townsville's Acting Chief Superintendent Chris Lawson and Acting OIC of Townsville's Domestic and Family Violence Unit, Sergeant Elise Feltham. Picture: Natasha Emeck

“Officers within the (Vulnerable Person’s Units) develop a rapport with the victims they are working to protect, which means they have confidence in reporting any breaches.”

It comes as Townsville’s new High Risk DV Team — an integrated unit of DV specialists, police, housing and health staff — began work on July 4.

The team has been allocated $3.3m over five years by the state government.

They will work to identify and assess domestic violence risks and take action to prevent harm using updated tools and best practice approaches.

Originally published as Queensland Government consider specialist domestic violence police station proposed for Kirwan, Logan