Qld police yet to appoint any of 114 DV specialist officers

Domestic violence victims living in multiple Queensland regions still do not have a specialised police team.

• Editor’s view: Vulnerable can’t wait

Police have not hired any of the 114 new specialist domestic violence officers budgeted for, a year after a damning inquiry that recommended they increase the number of cops in their vulnerable persons unit.

They are yet to launch vulnerable persons units in five police districts, another key recommendation that was uncovered during the commission of inquiry into the Queensland Police Service responses to domestic and family violence, which highlighted serious failings towards victims.

In the report A Call For Change, released following the inquiry in November last year, multiple recommendations were made that more specialist DV staff be rolled out, and every district was to have a 24/7 VPU by May 2024.

According to QPS, 114 specialist domestic and family violence officers have been approved for rollout across Queensland.

But The Courier-Mail can reveal these positions haven’t yet been filled, and there are still five districts without a VPU with just five months left until the deadline.

And it could be another two years until those positions are filled.

The Courier-Mail revealed last week the number of officers who left had increased by 47 per cent on the previous year, according to a Queensland Audit Office report.

The report stated the service was not on track to meet its target of hiring 2025 extra police by 2025, and the number of officers had declined by 202 in the last financial year.

The districts still without VPUs are Mackay, South-West, Ipswich, Rockhampton and Mount Isa.

Police Minister Mark Ryan with Commissioner Katarina Carroll

It can also be revealed breaches of domestic violence order offences in these areas totalled more than 10,000 offences between January and October this year – 1500 more than the same period in 2022.

DVConnect director of clinical governance Michelle Royes said victim-survivors were being put at risk.

“VPUs are very important, and a really important pathway for the victim-survivors to help connect with services,” Ms Royes said.

“It’s really frustrating, we understand that police and the government are doing a lot, a lot has happened, but we need to keep pushing.”

A Queensland police spokeswoman said it could even be another two years before these staff were hired.

“The additional positions have been created and will be filled from growth allocations over the next two years,” the spokeswoman said.

“Recruitment is under way and allocated positions for VPUs will be rolled out into districts in a staged approach, based on operational requirements, and will be carefully managed to minimise impact on the remainder of the frontline workforce.”

Ms Royes said reporting abuse to police was already a daunting experience.

“So there’s already a lot of barriers, not having VPUs in districts impacts on their safety plan,” she said.

Police Minister Mark Ryan said the funding was there.

“It is a matter for the QPS and the Police Commissioner,” Mr Ryan said.

Originally published as Qld police yet to appoint any of 114 DV specialist officers