An investigation into Australia’s New South Wales Police Force released Wednesday found that police officers lack appropriate training to manage domestic violence cases and identified gaps in reporting processes. The NSW Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) report reviewed instances where officers were investigated for inadequately responding to domestic violence and instances where officers were accused of domestic violence themselves.

The commission reviewed 470 complaints made against police officers who responded to domestic violence incidents between 2017 and 2021. Of 222 complaints that were investigated by NSW Police, 70 were related to police officers who were involved in domestic violence incidents. In 54 of these cases, officers investigated accused officers of domestic violence from the same command. The report also identified procedural deficiencies within police conduct, including failure to record reported incidents of domestic violence and provide victim support, inadequate supervision of investigations, failure to collect suitable evidence and failure to apply for protection orders where appropriate.

Chief Commissioner of the LECC Peter Johnson SC said that the report highlights the need for additional resources and training to respond to domestic and family violence, which amounts to roughly 40% of the NSW Police Force’s work.

“Police attend 180,000 domestic and family violence incidents in NSW each year or about 500 incidents every day,” the chief commissioner stated.

The commission made 13 recommendations, including transferring cases that involve a police officer to a different command, improving procedures to document the removal of police officers’ firearms whilst investigations are conducted, and maintaining detailed and centralised risk assessments. The commission also recommended reviewing operating procedures to ensure clear records of reported domestic violence incidences, compel officers to utilise body cameras when attending domestic violence incidents and provide additional training to officers in responding to domestic violence incidents.

This report follows the NSW Government’s announcement of a domestic violence scheme aimed at protecting current and potential victims of domestic violence amidst endemic rates of domestic violence in Australia.