ACT Policing says its data shows a drop in victim rights’ complaints. Photo: James Coleman.
The ACT Human Rights Commission says victim concerns about ACT Police have increased over the past 12 months, but the union representing the force says the trend is no cause for concern.
The commission’s annual report, released this week, stated the number of Canberrans who lodged complaints about all issues increased by 25 per cent in the last financial year.
Its Victims Support ACT department received 250 concerns about ACT Policing in 2024/25, up from 96 in 2023/24.
Victims’ rights concerns most commonly relate to the right to be treated respectfully and with appropriate regard to personal situation, needs, concerns, rights and dignity.
Australian Federal Police Association president Alex Caruana said ACT residents should not be alarmed by this trend.
“I’m not concerned about the rise in the number. It means the Canberra community are exercising their rights and it’s good we are transparent about that,” he said.
“If we look at the number of complaints coming in, you then have to look at the number of substantiated concerns and then the number that require action.
“That last number is quite low in the ACT.”
He said many concerns may involve police not responding to callouts quickly enough.
“In most cases, police officers can’t change that. We don’t have the resources to get to every job as a priority,” he said.
Australian Federal Police Association president Alex Caruana says substantiated complaints are the more important metric. Photo: James Day.
A spokesperson for ACT Policing says the department received 17 victims’ rights-related complaints in 2024-25, down on previous years.
“ACT Policing will continue to work with Victim Support ACT to determine if there were specific themes arising from the concerns and how to best address them,” the spokesperson said.
The Human Rights Commission said the spike in the overall number of complaints could be put down to better processes.
“Significant increases in complaints received are due to an expansion of complaint jurisdictions, and also reflect the work Commissioner [Karen] Toohey has done to provide Canberrans with an accessible, timely and fair complaints process,” commission president and Human Rights Commissioner Dr Penelope Mathew said.
The report also stated there had been a rise in complaints related to race and disability.
The commission provided an example of how its complaints process and action resulted in a positive outcome for a female student evicted from university accommodation due to mental illness.
“A student raised concerns that her university accommodation provider had discriminated against her when it had issued her a termination notice and sought to end her occupancy,” the report case study stated.
“She was told by the manager of the accommodation she seemed unhappy and may not be suited to living there due to her mental ill-health.
“Due to the urgency, a conciliation was held within a few days of the complaint being lodged with the commission.
“In the conciliation process the parties mutually agreed to terminate the occupancy. The accommodation provider also agreed to waive $500 of rental arrears and refund an amount equivalent to six weeks of occupancy fees.”
