Thursday, 13 August 2026

 Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (22:35): (2699) My adjournment is to the Attorney-General, and the action I seek is that the government establish an adequately resourced and independent police ombudsman for Victoria. Today we learned of charges against two Victoria Police officers over the alleged assault of an Aboriginal man during an arrest in Melbourne’s east last August. It is alleged that a senior constable unlawfully struck the man in the head with a taser and a sergeant unlawfully struck him in the head with their knee. These allegations are before the courts, and they must be determined there, but I note both officers are reportedly continuing to work in their current roles.

In this instance IBAC has independently investigated, and it shows exactly why independent oversight matters. But IBAC does not have the resources or structure to independently investigate the vast majority of complaints about Victoria Police. IBAC itself says that Victoria Police continues to manage most police complaints internally. In 2025 IBAC received 2376 complaints and notifications relating to Victoria Police. That equated to around 65 per cent of all the complaints that IBAC received. Of those 2367 complaints, IBAC, with its current resources and carrying out its investigative function, only undertook 47 preliminary inquiries and investigations. That means that in 2025 Victoria Police continued to investigate themselves in the vast, overwhelming majority of complaints. This is not a new problem. The government announced a systemic review of police oversight in 2021, promising reform that would put complainants and victims of police misconduct at the centre of the system. Five years later, and nearly at the end of this term of Parliament, Victorians are still waiting.

The Yoorrook Justice Commission recommended that Victoria establish an adequately resourced and independent police oversight authority headed by a statutory officer who has never been a police officer. Yoorrook said that the body should investigate all complaints other than minor customer service matters and it should independently investigate police contact deaths and serious incidents, monitor police powers in custody, conduct own-motion investigations and include a dedicated First Peoples–led complaints division.

Independent oversight protects the community and ensures that police are not marking their own homework, as they currently do in the vast majority of cases. But independent oversight also supports a professional police force by ensuring that serious allegations are investigated fairly, transparently and without an inherent conflict of interest. This would also go a long way to restoring public trust in Victoria Police, which we know continues to flag.

Victoria Police have extraordinary powers. They have coercive powers and powers to use force. With those powers must come accountability. Attorney-General, after years of reports, reviews, recommendations and repeated cases demonstrating, just like this one does, why reform is necessary, Victorians should not still be expected to accept a system where police overwhelmingly investigate complaints against their own colleagues. Establish an independent police ombudsman.