Queensland needs an inquiry into police domestic violence mindset

Queensland's Premier must launch a formal inquiry into the mindset of the Queensland Police Service toward domestic violence victims, while lawmakers must elevate domestic violence offences to the category of a serious crime to defeat the scourge of domestic violence in Australia.

These priorities are now essential following the pathetic sentence handed down to a police officer who accessed the confidential police database and texted the address of a domestic violence victim to her abusive former husband.

Senior Constable Neil Punchard has been sentenced to two months' jail, wholly suspended for 18 months, for leaking the personal details of a domestic violence complainant, including her address, to her former partner.

Punchard accessed confidential police databases on nine occasions over a year, and passed on the woman's contact details to her ex-husband, who is now subject to a Domestic Violence Order (DVO).

I am disgusted at the lenient sentence which is a gross betrayal of the trust domestic violence victims place in our police to safeguard them.

The inadequate Punchard sentence has illustrated the appalling reality that too often the charges against the perpetrators of domestic violence do not reflect the seriousness of their crimes.

Too often we hear stories of women bashed beyond recognition and near death in hospital while their abusive partners are charged as though they just had a drunken fight at the pub. In such situations they should face charges that reflect their mentality at the time, such as attempted murder.

Maybe then they may realise just how dangerously close they have come to being a murderer. Tragically too many of them are even crossing that line".

I am renewing a call I made last year for a formal and detailed investigation into the mindset of QPS officers to weed out any others who behave like Constable Punchard.

To those who just say he should be sacked, that's an employment issue. What he did demands a gaol sentence.

Last year's revelations of this scandal were staggering and evoked the spectre of a secret culture within the Queensland Police Service that undermined state government measures to combat domestic violence.

Our police are supposed to be the front line of protection for DV victims so revelations of a police officer accessing the database and texting a woman's address to her abusive ex partner, and encouraging the man to intimidate her with this information, is beyond disgusting.

To punish this officer with a suspended prison sentence is a slap in the face for all domestic violence victims in Queensland, as it makes a mockery of the state government domestic violence campaigns. The Premier and Police Minister need to step up immediately and launch a formal inquiry into the police mindset in this state.

The rate of women being killed due to domestic violence has increased this year from one death a week to 1.4 a week, and with barely two months left of 2019, already 55 women have been lost to alleged acts of murder or manslaughter – 11 of them in in September alone.

The laws relating to domestic violence need a complete overhaul and be classified as criminal offences from the outset.

Currently it's a private civil matter between parties. It's a societal problem and should be treated as such.

I endorse remarks by Former Liberal NSW government minister Pru Goward who has said while there has been much progress in helping DV victims, the perpetrators seem to remain largely invisible.

"Despite 20 years of royal commissions, reviews and inquiries, it is still possible for a domestic violence offender to go through the entire legal process without ever having to account for his (it is mostly, but not always, a man) behaviour; without having to apologise.

"And very often, even if found guilty, he is released with an unsupervised bond and an apprehended violence order. The offender is still largely invisible. Frankly, why are we surprised by the extent of multiple victims and reoffending when there is no accountability and criminals know it?" she wrote in a recent article.

As a family lawyer who helps women victims of domestic violence in all its forms, I have seen at first hand the devastating impact it has on their lives and their children's lives.

Too often the community focus has been centred around domestic violence charity groups that are not necessarily helping victims. The recent collapse of national domestic violence charity White Ribbon Australia which went into liquidation, with the charity to be wound up, was marked by claims that none of the funds it raised actually went to victims.

I strongly endorse the view that we don't need more awareness campaigns and endless talking, we need more action, not just to build more shelters and support victims, but to do something to stop the violence, before people become victims.

Better support measures for families facing financial burdens, better alcohol and drug support and above all actual action programs that address the key social and emotional drivers/triggers for violence are needed.

Emergency workers regard the period from now to New Year as a "perfect storm" for domestic violence.

These last few months of the year are the most dangerous for women due to a volatile mixture of pent-up aggression around the AFL and NRL grand finals, failed Melbourne Cup bets, Christmas financial struggles and family pressures, increased alcohol consumption, summer heat and frustrated couples venting at one another.

Too many men are resorting to their fists to deal with their issues and it's time society treated such actions as serious criminal assaults, and made the punishments match the crime.

There is a myth that is perpetuated that it is the Family Court or children being withheld from time with their fathers, that drives men to kill women. This is just not borne out by recent murders which have happened soon after separation.

It's time to stop being soft on domestic violence perpetrators. Charge them with the most serious crimes, make sure the punishments fit those crimes and ensure they can no longer attack and kill their partners.

As we head toward the Christmas season where domestic violence attacks soar, the public more than ever looks to our police for protection but right now public confidence in our police attitude toward domestic violence victims is zero with a strong element of disgust added.

The challenge to our lawmakers is to make domestic violence a serious crime and to our police, you have to win back the trust of the people you have sworn to protect.