Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
ABC News
ABC News
National

Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll, union president Ian Leavers called to front domestic violence inquiry

Queensland's Police Commissioner has been recalled to give further evidence at an inquiry into the service's culture and domestic violence.

The Commission of Inquiry into the Queensland Police Service (QPS) responses to domestic and family violence will sit for three additional public hearings in Brisbane on October 5, 6 and 7.

In a statement, the commission said it had called Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll and Queensland Police Union (QPU) president Ian Leavers to give evidence.

Commissioner Carroll declined to comment after being asked to return to front the inquiry.

Last month the commissioner was questioned for more than eight hours at a public hearing in Brisbane in August, where she acknowledged that there were "significant" cultural issues, relating to sexism, misogyny and racism, within the QPS.

However, she told the inquiry she "can't accept" those issues were "widespread".

Commissioner Carroll was also questioned over two incidents involving misogynistic comments allegedly made by senior police at two separate police conferences this year.

Deputy Commissioner Paul Taylor resigned after the inquiry heard he had referred to a friend of his as a "vagina whisperer" during a formal speech at a leadership conference.

Chief Superintendent Ray Rohweder is yet to comment publicly on claims that he made lewd comments during another police conference in March.

Mr Leavers had provided a written statement to the inquiry but had not previously been called to give evidence.

Amid the fallout over the alleged sexist comments, Judge Deborah Richards announced the inquiry was accepting new submissions after it was contacted by a number of officers about those issues.

"After considering the answers to the questions put to [Commissioner Carroll] at that hearing and upon receiving further communications from current and former members of the QPS … the commission has decided that it's necessary to reopen call for submissions," Judge Richards said.

The inquiry has now received more than 550 submissions, 250 of which were received after the submission period re-opened.

Between July and August, the inquiry sat for several weeks in both Brisbane and regional Queensland.

More than 75 witnesses gave evidence, including serving and retired officers, domestic and family violence service providers, experts and victim-survivors.

Among the explosive evidence, one service officer — who cannot be identified for legal reasons — told the inquiry that misogyny "ran wild" within the force as he detailed hearing male colleagues frequently making derogatory remarks about female survivors and avoiding domestic violence incidents altogether.

Several witnesses told the inquiry that officers were "DV fatigued" and fearful of scrutiny over their response to a large volume of cases, with police spending more than 40 per cent of their time responding to domestic violence matters.

The commission's final report is due to be handed down on November 14.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.