One of Queensland's most senior police officers has shared his frustration at the state's enormous and enduring domestic violence problem. Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski is overseeing major police reforms sparked by a scathing inquiry into the handling of DV cases, but scores of recommendations are yet to be implemented.
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00:00 From floods and fires to border blockades, Steve Goszewski has led the state's response
00:07 to every kind of disaster.
00:10 This is far more challenging.
00:11 Tasked with tackling surging domestic violence cases.
00:15 We know that it's an enormous problem.
00:16 It's an enduring problem.
00:17 A commission of inquiry last year found sexism and racism were rife in police ranks.
00:24 Victims turned away, not believed, blamed by some officers.
00:29 It made 78 recommendations for reform.
00:32 The Deputy Police Commissioner is responsible for implementing them.
00:36 How's it going?
00:37 17 are ready to deliver.
00:40 The work has been done on them.
00:41 Among those, an internal complaints handling code for racism allegations and better training
00:47 for police.
00:48 They are shifting and understanding how important it is to get those responses to domestic and
00:52 family violence right.
00:53 He says work's underway on nearly all the other recommendations.
00:58 Some set deadlines haven't been met.
01:01 The time frames are very ambitious and in some instances they're just not achievable.
01:05 The inquiry's findings went all the way to the top, blaming QPS leaders for allowing
01:12 cultural issues to go unchecked.
01:14 And what's morale like within the senior leadership team now?
01:18 Resolute.
01:19 We know how important this is.
01:21 We know that sometimes we get it wrong.
01:24 Committed now to getting it right.
01:26 The latest figures paint a grim picture.
01:29 Police responded to more than 171,000 DV call-outs in the past year.
01:35 460 cases a day.
01:38 The fact is that even if we implement every single recommendation 100 per cent, that still
01:43 won't be enough.
01:44 We'll need to do more.
01:45 A tough truth and no easy answers.
01:48 [BLANK_AUDIO]