Media Release - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People – A review of their complaints

Wednesday, 26 June 2024

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission has published An Observations Paper: Analysis of complaints made or on behalf of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people today.

The Commission’s paper reviews both the NSW Police Force and Commission’s complaint handling system and traces complaints made between 1 January 2021 and 30 June 2022 from triage to final outcome.

The Commission undertook this work to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s knowledge, access and capability to use available data and information to set priorities and drive their own development and is in line with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap Priority Reform 4.

Commissioner Anina Johnson described the importance of highlighting aspects of the complaint handling system.

“The Observations Paper sheds light on the way complaints about police in NSW are handled and demonstrates the Commission’s commitment to increasing the transparency of the complaints system where we can,” she said.

This paper provides a snapshot of the number of complaints, allegations and outcomes of complaints Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made for a period of time.

The Commission’s Observation Paper will be the starting point for discussions with Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities about opportunities to improve the Commission’s collection, access, management and use of data about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

A copy of Commission’s Observations Paper can be found here.