A First Nations woman who was a victim of domestic violence was turned away from a Brisbane police station because she was perceived as “argumentative”, a commission of inquiry has heard.
Kerry Johnson, superintendent of Queensland police’s First Nations and multicultural affairs unit, told the inquiry he became aware of the incident after the woman’s mother contacted him.
“She unfortunately has drug and alcohol addiction issues and the way that she presented, [she] was turned away,” Johnson said on Monday.
Johnson said a domestic violence liaison officer later contacted the woman and supported her with issues that “were clearly breaches of DV issues”.
His comments were made to a commission of inquiry examining cultural issues within the Queensland police and their response to domestic and family violence incidents.
The first week of public hearings last week heard devastating allegations such as officers referring to rape as “surprise sex”, domestic violence as “foreplay” and saying victims were “too ugly to be raped” or “deserved” it.
The second week of hearings, which kicked off in Cairns on Monday, is focusing on the experiences of regional and First Nations officers, legal representatives and community support workers.
Torres Strait-based senior sergeant Anthony Moynihan said between 70% and 80% of calls for assistance in the region relate to domestic and family violence matters. The inquiry heard it can take up to six hours for Queensland police to respond to domestic violence incidents on its outer islands.
Moynihan told the inquiry police stations on the outer islands were essentially just “houses” that are not staffed by Queensland police officers and have no watch house facilities, CCTVs or extra security.
Due to the lack of security available at “stations”, there have been instances of Torres Strait liaison officers taking people into their own houses to hide them from offenders, Moynihan said.
“[Torres Strait liaison officers] don’t have any powers of entry, they don’t have any powers to [deal with] a potentially volatile situation … to gather information so we can make decisions,” he said.
“We ask them sometimes to get involved in volatile family situations and they’re related to these families, and it might compromise their relationships going forward.”
The inquiry also heard intergenerational trauma experienced by First Nations people has contributed to a lack of trust and confidence in Queensland police.
Johnson said that in one case, a First Nations woman advised her daughter not to report to police after she was violently assaulted by her non-Indigenous partner.
“Her mother was quite a well-respected woman, but just simply not trusting [of] police. And that would be that build on generation after generation of issues,” Johnson told the inquest.
“That trauma is still there … and it’s still passed on to the family … Maybe hatred is too strong a word, but it’s just ingrained.”
In another incident, a domestic violence victim argued with police as the perpetrator was removed from the family home, Johnson said.
It was later revealed she had been fearful of being seen as “siding” with police if the perpetrator was later released, he told the inquiry.
Johnson said “a number” of officers lacked good or acceptable knowledge of historical issues between First Nations communities or contemporary issues.
“The standards you walk past [are] the standards you accept,” he said.
A Queensland police service spokesperson said QPS are “committed to working towards a safer community” for First Nations people.
The spokesperson said QPS are doing this through engagement with local stakeholders “to tailor approaches to prevent harm, raise awareness of reporting options and [build] trust and [maintain] community confidence in the QPS”.
“We are committed to strengthening and improving our response to domestic and family violence matters to ensure the service is supporting all victims and holding perpetrators to account,” they said.
