The Commission of Inquiry into Queensland Police Service (QPS) responses to domestic and family violence's terms of reference tasked it to inquire into any cultural issues within the QPS that influence the investigation of domestic and family violence.

To assist it with those inquiries, the Commission gathered information from victim-survivors, the community organisations that support them and police officers. It did this using a variety of methods including by calling for submissions, conducting surveys of victim-survivors and police officers, conducting meetings and interviews, holding public hearings and using its powers to require the production of relevant information and records, including from the QPS. The Commission also examined previous reports and reviews of QPS responses to domestic and family violence and engaged experts to inform its understanding of matters relevant to the terms of reference.

Despite repeated findings of similar failures over time, the Commission heard that those failures continue to be experienced by victim-survivors who seek help from police. Not all victim-survivors have a negative experience of police responses to domestic and family violence but, for those that do, the impact can be significant. Negative experiences can leave victim-survivors and their children unprotected and unlikely to seek police assistance again in the future, and perpetrators emboldened. The difficulty is that many do experience a negative response from police and that, overall, police responses continue to be inconsistent and, at times, inadequate.

Key recommendations:

• Within six months, the Queensland Police Service should develop and implement a mechanism for measuring domestic and family violence demand and the effectiveness of police responses to domestic and family violence.
• Within 12 months, the Queensland Police Service should identify, using the mechanism for measuring domestic and family violence demand, the further additional funding and Full Time Equivalent positions needed to meet that demand.
• Within 18 months, the Queensland Government should allocate the funding and Full Time Equivalent positions identified by the Queensland Police Service as being required to meet the demand of responding to domestic and family violence.