The “most senior leaders” in the Queensland police service were the most resistant to cultural reform needed to address sexism, misogyny and racism in the force, a review of workplace quality by the state’s Human Rights Commission has found.
The report, released on Tuesday, was recommended by the 2022 Commission of Inquiry into police culture, which found a “failure of leadership” had allowed a culture of sexism, misogyny and racism to take hold unchecked.
The Queensland Human Rights Commissioner, Scott McDougall, said his review found “systemic discrimination against women, First Nations and culturally-diverse officers continues to be driven by outdated processes and attitudes”.
“Unfortunately, this is not a case of rooting out a few bad apples,” McDougall said.
“The QPS’s workplace culture and systems have allowed discrimination to thrive and systemic discrimination requires systemic solutions.”
The police commissioner, Steve Gollschewski, on Tuesday said some media reporting about cultural problems in the QPS did “not show how committed the QPS has been, nor is continuing to be” at addressing those concerns.
Gollschewski acknowledged the report and said the QPS would “carefully consider” McDougall’s 36 recommendations, which include calls for the police leadership to release a public statement committing to cultural change, and to be held accountable for improving diversity and inclusion in the QPS.
“Our commitment to being the best we can is unwavering,” he said.
The report identified “significant organisational and individual resistance” within the QPS to reform. It said resistant views were “most strongly held by QPS’s most senior leaders in the executive leadership team, noncommissioned officers, and male officers”.
“Throughout the review the commission heard from many dedicated police officers – from all levels and backgrounds – who want real change,” the report said.
“They are officers who joined the police motivated by the opportunity to serve the community, remain deeply committed to QPS and its mission, and have made significant personal sacrifices for this cause. However, their belief in QPS’s capacity for change is being tested.
“Positive change requires reconstructing some of QPS’s most deeply held values and ways of working, permanently altering power dynamics and how benefits are distributed.”
The review also found the QPS continues to place significant value on “physical skills and attributes” – for instance recruits are still required to be able to swim 100m – as opposed to technological or language skills.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Gollschewski said that since the inquiry the percentage of women accepted to join police recruit classes had dropped. He said he opposed gender targets, which were tried and “did not work” because the underlying problem was understanding why women did not want to join the QPS.
“What that’s telling us is there’s something stopping women from joining the QPS. What we’re trying to understand is what is that, and what can we do better. Because there’s been goodwill in place for some time.”
The police minister, Dan Purdie, told parliament on Tuesday the government was committed to change and thanked officers for participating in the process.
“Inclusive workplaces free of discrimination and harassment are safer workplaces. Increasing diversity and inclusion is essential for our police to effectively represent and protect all members of the broad Queensland community,” he said.
“The issues identified in the report are not new, many having been identified in the commission of inquiry and are not unique to the Queensland police.”
