We received well over 4000 complaints again last year.
Financial Year to 30 June |
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
2019 |
2018 |
2017 |
2016 |
2015 |
2014 |
2013 |
| Complaints | 4449 | 6051* | 4257 | 3882 | 3026 | 2592 | 2614 | 2441 | 2515 | 2193 | 1997 |
The most common complaints were over:
In 2022/2023 we released 39 public reports detailing findings from our independent investigations and oversaw 356 Police investigations (172 were resolved, a further 184 were new cases).
We had 318 ongoing open investigations at 30 June 2023. These complaints were of the most serious type and required independent investigation or oversight.
They included allegations of serious assaults by Police officers, failures by Police to adequately investigate serious matters and deaths or injuries following Police pursuits.
The final report The Review: Policing of the Protest and Occupation at Parliament 2022 was publicly released on 20 April 2023. The Review represents a piece of work on a scale that was unprecedented for the IPCA. The level of information and investigative work required, and the nature of this high-profile work resulted in a project of substantial complexity.
The Review took just over a year to complete from announcement. While the funding was secured and terms of reference published on 24 March 2022, it took approximately a further two months to establish the core project team members and structures. The Review team was not fully resourced until 12 September 2022, and levels of resourcing fluctuated as the project progressed. While an additional month was needed to finalise the report and implement the distribution processes, it was largely produced within the timeframe and within budget.
In 2022/23 we facilitated action by Police to address the grievances in 1174 complaints, representing just over a quarter of all complaints.
Complaints managed via this process can range from relatively minor to serious. Their distinguishing feature is that they can be resolved quickly and effectively because facts are clearly understood and agreed and the likely actions to resolve the grievance can be agreed at an early stage of the complaint process. We now publish examples of the resolutions on our website.
Read our latest Annual Report (PDF 3.8 MB) for more detail.