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TRANSCRIPT
The Queensland
Police Service; How
Widespread
Systemic Bullying is
Harming Our Police
Justice 4 Workers Qld Author: Kate Rasmussen 28 May 2018
Table of Contents I. Background ........................................................... 2
II. The Law ................................................................. 6
III. The Evidence ......................................................... 8
IV. The Relationship Between Bullying and Suicide 17
V. Breach of duty of care & failure to exercise due diligence............................................................... 20
VI. Abuse of power .................................................... 34
VII. Conclusion ........................................................... 40
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 2
Background
1. For many years the Queensland Police Service (QPS) has been subjected to allegations of bullying.
Allegations of bullying within the QPS make regular appearances in the media, and social media
comments from current and former Queensland police officers leave no doubt that the organisation
is suffering. Despite evidence being highlighted in various forums, QPS hierarchy remain in denial
about the enormity of the workplace bullying endemic that is eroding the service. The Service’s
risk management strategies related to workplace bullying are inadequate and are contrary to duty
of care obligations legislated in the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld).
2. Bullying is causing psychological injuries1, internal bullying complaints are being overlooked, police
are both attempting and committing suicide - and yet workplace bullying is not being taken seriously.
This is not to suggest that bullying is the sole cause of all police suicides, however statistics
provided within this report will certainly prove it to be a prevalent contributing factor in suicide
ideation and attempts.
3. Those who report bullying are often ostracised, labelled, victimised and subjected to targeted
reprisals that hide behind what is commonly referred to as ‘reasonable management action’.2 The
issue is not limited to one or two stations or sections – it is rife across the state with officers all over
Queensland reporting similar bullying tactics from their senior officers. The QPS hierarchy abuse
their positions of power by using the legislation, policies, and procedures available to them to target
those who speak up with various form of ‘management action’. Being overlooked for promotions,
career development opportunities and being subjected to repeated unjustified criticisms and
performance reviews are common tactics. Police officers refer to this situation as ‘career suicide’,
meaning that one’s career ends once they speak out about adversity in the workplace.
1 WorkCover Queensland RTI 20544. 2 Section 32 (5) Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld).
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 3
4. Comments made in a media conference in 2017 by Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart
blatantly confirmed what frontline police are claiming about the attitude of their hierarchy. On
national television, when asked about low staff morale and other issues Mr Stewart bluntly asked;
“Do they (police) wanna [sic] be part of the solution or do they wanna [sic] just bitch about the
problem, and if it’s the latter then maybe they should think about their careers”.3
5. With these sorts of comments coming from the man at the very top of the organisation, it’s not
surprising that the current internal cultural problems exist. It is also not surprising that police feel
fearful of speaking up about these problems, when that is the attitude of the hierarchy. It would
appear that the same attitude filters down through other levels of Queensland Police Service
management, who follow in the footsteps of the Police Commissioner by either committing acts of
bullying or allowing workplace bullying to occur. The comments of the Commissioner of Police are
indeed indicative of the systemic nature of bullying in the QPS.
6. Justice 4 Workers Qld works closely with psychologically injured police officers, the majority of
whom have been subjected to some form of workplace bullying. Justice 4 Workers has been
committed to highlighting the bullying crisis in order to bring about change, by gathering evidence
through surveys, personal research, and information provided by current and former Queensland
police officers so that it may be presented to Work Health and Safety Queensland.
7. Whilst gathering evidence for this report, Justice 4 Workers Qld was contacted by many police who
all had their own stories to tell, but stated they would not come forward without a guarantee of being
afforded protection. Officers know all too well that they will be targeted by an organisation that is
known internally for ruling by fear and intimidation. Those officers were made aware of the
protections afforded within section 104 (1) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) and section
105 of the Act in relation to ‘discriminatory conduct’. This was still not sufficient reassurance for
most officers to submit their evidence in written form. That in itself provides evidence that bullying
is a serious problem in the Queensland Police Service.
8. Officers are more likely to provide evidence under direction by an external agency, hence why
Justice 4 Workers seeks a Work Health and Safety investigation into widespread systemic bullying
causing psychological harm the Queensland Police Service. This will facilitate an environment
where officers can speak up collaboratively and be reassured by Work Health and Safety
Inspectors that persons assisting the investigation will be protected.
3 https://au.news.yahoo.com/video/watch/35485000/claims-of-a-police-crisis-in-queensland/#page1; http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/senior-police-officer-calls-for-inquiry-in-to-mismanagement-of-queensland-police-service/news-story/9f712089d6a0dee8a0f02aa73ec049a7.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 4
9. Previous evidence gathered on this subject has been provided to Queensland Premier the
Honourable Ms Annastacia Palaszczuk, the Honourable Mr Mark Ryan MP Queensland Police
Minister, the Honourable Ms Grace Grace MP Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations,
WorkCover Queensland, and the Queensland Police Injury Management section. Despite all of
these people in positions of power having knowledge of the issues Queensland police officers are
facing, none of them have brought about an inquiry into the organisation.
10. Justice 4 Workers has also provided detailed advice to a Griffith University Provisional Psychologist
regarding a joint QPS and Griffith University retirement project aimed at improving support for
retiring police. No feedback has been received since November 2016. The Queensland Police
Service and Queensland Police Union of Employees have initiated the ‘Our People Matter’
campaign, which has been met with criticism and scepticism by frontline police. Police feel that
their voices are falling on deaf ears and that these approaches are nothing more than lip service.
11. The Queensland Police Service is at crisis point and workplace bullying is causing significant
emotional and mental harm to our police men and women and unsworn staff. Of equal concern is
the organisation’s failure to implement adequate risk management and harm minimisation
strategies in accordance with their obligations under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld),
on top of what appears to be attempts to conceal the truth on this issue.
12. This report has been prepared to prove that a prima facie case exists regarding widespread
systemic bullying causing psychological harm within the QPS. Police and civilian QPS staff
currently live in fear of reprisal if they tell the truth about the severe bullying occurring within the
organisation. One officer likened the organisation to ‘North Korea’, stating that ‘the organisation is
ruled by fear and if you speak out about the leader you face capital punishment’.
13. Many QPS employees have even stated that they fear being targeted if they ‘like’ or comment on
Facebook posts made by Justice 4 Workers on the subject of bullying and organisational culture.
Officers are scared to report misconduct because they know that whistleblowers are targeted and
subjected to reprisal. More often than not, officers refuse to support colleagues who become
victims of workplace bullying, by choosing not to provide statements or supporting evidence of
bullying they have witnessed. This is predominantly because officers know that speaking out comes
at a price. This factor in itself is placing the health and safety of QPS employees at risk.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 5
14. Queensland Police have significant restrictions placed upon them by way of legislation and
organisational policy put in place to silence them about these matters.4 Even officers who are
successful in taking legal action against the Service for their psychological injuries are made to sign
confidentiality agreements as a condition of settlement.
15. This report shows that there is a prima facie case that bullying in the QPS is systemic and
widespread, and is causing substantial psychological harm. It is submitted that an independent
external investigation by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland is warranted and well overdue.
16. An investigation of this kind would be required state-wide, and by providing a safe environment
where officers may come forward and not be intimidated by their senior officers. An enquiry by
Work Health and Safety Queensland will afford officers and civilian staff with protection from
‘discriminatory conduct’ by virtue of s.105 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld). Without
an external inquiry, the QPS will continue to deny and conceal the truth and will continue to allow
bullying and subsequent psychological illness in the service to continue. Action is long overdue.
4 Section 5 ‘Public Comment’, Queensland Police Service Standard of Practice. See also Queensland Police Service Code of Conduct; and Queensland Police Operational Procedures Manual; and section 5.6.16 Queensland Police Service Management Support Manual; and section 10.1 ‘Improper Disclosure of Information’, Police Service Administration Act 1990 (Qld); and Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 6
The Law
What is an injury?
17. For the purpose of a workers’ compensation claim, a psychological injury is defined in the Workers
Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld) as being;
(1) An injury is a personal injury arising out of, or in the course of, employment if—
(b) for a psychiatric or psychological disorder—the employment is the major significant
contributing factor to the injury.
(2) However, employment need not be a contributing factor to the injury if section 34(2) or
35(2) applies.
(3) Injury includes the following—
(b) an aggravation of the following, if the aggravation arises out of, or in the course
of, employment and the employment is a significant contributing factor to the
aggravation—
(ba) an aggravation of a psychiatric or psychological disorder, if the aggravation
arises out of, or in the course of, employment and the employment is the major
significant contributing factor to the aggravation;
However, a psychological injury does not include a psychiatric or psychological disorder arising out
of, or in the course of —
(a) reasonable management action taken in a reasonable way by the employer in
connection with the worker’s employment;
(b) the worker’s expectation or perception of reasonable management action being
taken against the worker.5
Examples of actions that may be reasonable management actions taken in a reasonable way— • action taken to transfer, demote, discipline, redeploy, retrench or dismiss the worker • a decision not to award or provide promotion, reclassification or transfer of, or leave of absence or benefit in connection with, the worker’s employment.6
5 Section 32 (5) (a) & (b) of the Workers Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld). 6 Ibid.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 7
What is Workplace Bullying
18. Workplace Bullying is defined in Section 272 of the Industrial Relations Act 2016 (Qld) which states;
(1) An employee is bullied in the workplace if—
(a) while the employee is at work, an individual or group of individuals repeatedly
behaves unreasonably towards—
(i) the employee; or
(ii) a group of employees of which the employee is a member; and
(b) that behaviour creates a risk to the health and safety of the employee.
Note—
For the meaning of employee for this chapter, see section 8(2).
(2) To remove any doubt, it is declared that subsection (1) does not apply to reasonable
management action carried out in a reasonable manner.7
19. Just as with the definition of ‘psychological injury’ under the Workers’ Compensation and
Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld), workplace bullying legislation also contains an exclusion clause
related to ‘reasonable management action’. Unfortunately, these provisions are being taken
advantage of by the hierarchy who use various forms of management action to bully people into
extended sick leave, or in many cases - out of the job. The result is not only psychological injuries,
but countless workers compensation claims for psychological injuries that are rejected because
they are the result of what insurers determine is ‘reasonable management action’. Manager’s hide
behind these exclusionary clauses to target employees through the over-enforcement of various
organisational regulations.
20. To determine whether management action is ‘reasonable’ requires the application of the standards
and expectations of a ‘reasonable person’ – one who stands as a disinterested on-looker and seeks
to assess whether the conduct in issue was reasonable, having regard to community standards
and expectations as well as what might be regarded as being ‘fair and proper’. The management
action must be “reasonable in all the circumstances of the case…”.8
21. Management action that results in psychological injuries cannot be considered reasonable. Bullying
within the QPS is most certainly systemic, with bullying not being limited to one particular station,
section or division. It is state-wide, with similar tactics used in all corners of the state.
7 https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/ACTS/2016/16AC063.pdf. 8 (WorkCover Queensland v Kehl [2002] QIC 23; 170 QGIG 93; Ivey v WorkCover Queensland [1999] QIC 65; 162 QGIG 392).
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 8
22. In Amie Mac v Bank of Queensland Ltd and Others [2015] FWC 774, Vice President Hatcher
attempted to “draw up a list of features at least some of which one might expect to find in a course
of repeated unreasonable behavior that constituted bullying”. He stated that;
‘My list included the following: intimidation, coercion, threats, humiliation, shouting,
sarcasm, victimisation, terrorising, singling-out, malicious pranks, physical abuse, verbal
abuse, emotional abuse, belittling, bad faith, harassment, conspiracy to harm, ganging-up,
isolation, freezing-out, ostracism, innuendo, rumour-mongering, disrespect, mobbing,
mocking, victim blaming and discrimination…’ (2015) 247 IR 274; [2015] FWC 774.
The Evidence
Statistics on bullying and bullying-related psychological injuries
23. Information obtained from the Queensland Police Service by Justice 4 Workers under the Right to
Information Act 2009 (Qld) provided the following statistics on psychological injury claims made by
police between January 2011 and 31 January 2017.9 This data does not include those with
diagnosed psychological injuries who did not lodge a workers’ compensation claim.
Year of Lodgment (Jan
to Dec)
Number of Police officers who
lodged a claim with WorkCover
for psychological injuries
2011 114
2012 115
2013 96
2014 100
2015 85
2016 99
2017 (as at 31 Jan) 9
*In creating table 1, data from the IINRS system was extracted and filtered for WorkCover claims lodged by Police Officers as provided by the WorkCover downloaded into the IINRS. Then the data was filtered by “Original Intimation Date” as recorded in the downloaded WorkCover data – claims outside the specified dates were removed; Then the data was filtered by Psychological injury recorded by the downloaded WorkCover data to provide the data in table 1
9 QPS RTI 20026 refers.
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24. Further information obtained by Justice 4 Workers under the Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld)
revealed that there have been at least 82 claims for bullying-related psychological injury claims by
Queensland police officers between January 2013 and January 2017.10 That is 82 out of a total of
389 claims according to the above figures. It is noteworthy to mention that although figures were
requested on all workers’ compensation claims that alleged bullying and negative workplace
behaviors, the figures provided to Justice 4 Workers specifically refer to bullying by ‘colleagues’.11
25. In November 2016 Justice 4 Workers Qld conducted a more comprehensive online survey amongst
current and former serving Queensland Police Officers, which was accessible via the Justice 4
Workers Qld Facebook page. The objective of the survey was to identify organisational culture
issues and factors contributing to police suicide within the QPS. The survey initially ran for three
days and attracted 375 responses. After receiving a number of requests from officers who had
missed the cutoff, the survey was re-activated again for three days in May 2017 which resulted in
a total of 678 responses being received overall.
26. 513 of overall respondents were current serving members (question 1),12 with 433 of those having
never been diagnosed with any form of psychological injury (question 2).13 Question 9 of the survey
found that a total of 530 out of 678 respondents had experienced workplace bullying in some form,
with bullying from management being the most common (244 respondents).14 525 respondents
(77%) believe there is a bullying culture within the QPS (see figure below).15
10 QPS RTI 20544 refers. 11 Ibid. 12 Justice 4 Workers Qld Survey; Suicide, support systems and organisational culture within the Queensland Police Service, 2016 & 2017. 13 Ibid. 14 Ibid. 15 Ibid.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 10
27. In 2017, Justice 4 Workers conducted a further online survey to identify the predominant
perpetrators of bullying within the QPS. The survey comprised of only one question and required
respondents to nominate when their workers’ compensation claim for bullying was lodged between
2011 and 2017, and whether the alleged perpetrators were; a) management, b) colleagues or c)
both management and colleagues. Respondents were able to select multiple answers in cases
where multiple claims had been lodged. The survey attracted only 38 responses and identified 44
workers’ compensation claims for bullying between 2011 and 2017. 26 of those claims related to
bullying by management, with 14 relating to bullying by both colleagues and management.16 Only
4 of those claims alleged bullying solely by colleagues.17
28. The QPS regularly makes news headlines resulting from allegations of workplace bullying and a
toxic culture, and this is not limited to any one district. In 2010, two Gold Coast detectives launched
an appeal against the Workers’ Compensation Regulator after their workers’ compensation claims
for bullying-related injuries were declined.18 Both officers alleged that they were bullied out of the
QPS for refusing to act on illegal search warrants.19 On 1 September 2010 another Gold Coast
detective from the same office was acquitted of stalking and assaulting his neighbour - charges
which the detective claims were levelled against him by senior police for speaking out against
corrupt practices and for lodging a workers’ compensation claim.20 In 2012 during the officer’s
hearing against Qcomp, two other detectives from the same office gave evidence that they had
also been bullied out after clashing with members of management.21
29. In early 2015, a Stanthorpe Police Officer made allegations of misconduct and breach of discipline
against a number of her colleagues. Eight of the officer’s twenty-three allegations were
substantiated, which resulted in the officer being bullied and victimised and led to her eventual
resignation from the QPS. 22 Also in 2015, the ABC reported that the Officer in Charge of
Coolangatta Police Station was accused of vilification and bullying after he had written the word
‘abor’ on the roster next the name of an indigenous officer.23
16 Justice 4 Workers Qld Survey; Queensland Police Service Bullying Related Workers’ Compensation Claims, 2017. 17 Ibid. 18 http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/ex-police-officers-sue-for-2m-over-bullying-claims/news-story/b983b739fc928e501b82773c3f002a93?sv=c76e97655eec919b7c757fa421036a93. 19 Ibid. 20 http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/ex-cop-blasts-police-commissioner-bob-atkinson-after-stalking-case/news-story/c97dd614f7e9949204339a32147f25bb?sv=d76194ca8b6f6a3ac6a2e1c393549909. 21 https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/nsw/former-cops-gives-evidence-on-illegal-warrants-and-bullying-in-police-force-ng-cb181edf28b633014d409afb2c6fe413. 22 http://www.whistleblowingwomen.com/qldpolice.htm. 23 Willacy, M. 10 April 2015 ABC Online available at http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-10/qps-refuses-to-apologise-over-abor-roster-note/6383466.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 11
30. The same Officer in Charge is alleged to have also written ‘gay’ next the name of an officer who
had recently disclosed that he was homosexual.24 The matter was taken by the officers to the Anti-
Discrimination Commission after an internal QPS investigation determined there was ‘no case to
answer’.25 At the end of 2017, information was obtained that the officer who engaged in this
conduct is now performing higher duties at the rank of Acting Inspector.26 This is far from being
seen as ensuring there are consequences for those who bully staff.
31. On 9 January 2016, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported that on 8/1/2015 an officer was suspended
for harassing other members of the Queensland Police Service, and on 30/9/2015 an officer was
suspended after allegations of victimisation were made against him/her.27 It must be clarified that
just because allegations have been made, those allegations have not necessarily been
substantiated.
32. In August 2016 the QPS again made headlines when the ABC reported that a former Queensland
Police Scenes of Crime Officer was suing the QPS, for matters including “that he was harassed
and bullied on the job between 2010 and 2013, experienced suicidal ideation, and had a mental
breakdown at work”.28 On 15 December 2016 the Brisbane times reported the story of a police
officer stabbed in the line of duty, who claimed had been bullied by management because he
admitted to suffering mental health issues as a result of his attack.29 In June 2017 the Queensland
Police Union reported that they were investigating bullying at Bundaberg and Wide Bay Burnett
District.30 These media reports are only the tip of the iceberg.
33. In approximately 2014-2015 an internal investigation was conducted into workplace bullying at the
Townsville Police Communications Centre after sworn and civilian staff made bullying allegations
resulting in psychological injuries. Justice 4 Workers is aware of at least two police officers and a
civilian employee who left the section due to alleged bullying.
24 Willacy, M. 10 April 2015 ABC Online available at http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-10/qps-refuses-to-apologise-over-abor-roster-note/6383466. 25 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-14/senior-sergeant-arguably-discriminated-against-gay-constable/6619132 26 Information provided to Justice 4 Workers Qld by an officer who has had personal dealings with the now Acting Inspector. 27 http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/crime-court/at-least-11-police-have-been-suspended-from-the-gold-coast-and-logan/news-story/ae5403f0b1279f400f8353ba5671690b . 28 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-01/former-qps-officer-ptsd-unsuccessful-in-government-lawsuit/7679148. 29 http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/cop-stabbed-in-line-of-duty-speaks-out-about-toxic-workplace-20161215-
gtc4yy.html. 30 https://www.news-mail.com.au/news/bundaberg-police-officers-bullied-union-claims/3190032/.
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34. In 2016 a number of investigations were conducted by the Queensland Police Ethical Standards
Command into workplace bullying alleged by a number of officers at the Runaway Bay (Gold Coast)
Police Station.31 Justice 4 Workers understands that a number of officers from the station have
lodged workers compensation claims after sustaining psychological injuries resulting from alleged
bullying by both colleagues and management.
35. Also in 2016, the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission determined that a number of officers
in the Brisbane Water Police had been subjected to bullying behaviour, and that the QPS had failed
to adequately address the complaints of bullying.32 Deputy President Swan observed that the
senior officers who had been made aware of the conduct and failed to act, had also failed in their
work health and safety obligations.33 Justice 4 Workers is aware that two of the bullied officers have
medically retired as a result of the bullying, and several more have had to transfer out of the section.
A number of other specific and more recent examples are included in the annexure of this report
with the informed consent of the officers involved.
36. In August 2017, police in the Mount Isa District were reporting that morale is at an all-time low. This
is reflected in what staff report as being 51 lateral transfer applications (outwards) awaiting
approval.34 Officers state that there is a nepotistic culture that encourages the promotion and career
development of the ‘in-group’ and actively excludes others. Officers are claiming to be subjected to
bullying behavior by their senior officers, which is causing a risk to psychological wellbeing. Also in
August 2017 Justice 4 Workers Qld was contacted by a former Bundaberg Police staff member
who stated they and a number of others were bullied out of their jobs at the station a number of
years ago. Current complaints of bullying are still ongoing at Bundaberg.
37. Justice 4 Workers has unconfirmed information that there is an alleged bullying investigation
currently being conducted by the Ethical Standards Command at Mackay District. Further details
are not known, other than that the allegations involve alleged bullying by members of management.
At the same time, it is believed that investigations are also being conducted by the Crime and
Corruption Commission into the bullying of Gold Coast Crime Managers by a Commissioned Officer.
The alleged bullying is reported to have arisen as a result of the Crime Managers blowing the
whistle on fudged crime figures on the Gold Coast.
31 Ethical Standards reference numbers CSS 2016/00100 and CSS 2016/00740 refer. Justice 4 Workers has also had involvement with regards to other bullying matters in the station. 32 Read v Workers’ Compensation Regulator [2016] QIRC 017. 33 Ibid at [187]. 34 Information obtained by persons known to Justice 4 Workers Qld – August 2017.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 13
38. On approximately Tuesday 15 May 2018, a Human Services Officer on the Gold Coast sent out a
district-wide email, advising of the commencement of support group meetings for victims of
workplace bullying and harassment. The concept was allegedly ‘not supported by Senior
Management’. The email read;
If you have ever been bullied, harassed, intimidated, victimised or discriminated at work, then this email is for you. We are starting up a support group for sworn and unsworn members who are both at work, including those on RTW plans and retired QPS members to help to support you and begin to remove the isolation, stigma, reputational damage and negative impact on your health as a result. A problem shared is a problem halved. If you have followed the grievance policy, have seen no action from your complaint or request for something to be done, then this support group might be for you. Weekly coffee catch ups Friday mornings 9am, beginning June 1 2018. Location TBC. We have some guest speakers, internal and external to the QPS lined up who have walked this well-trodden path, survived, are now thriving and will be sharing their stories of experience, strength and hope. Building relationships and building your support network is the number one predictor of both your physical and mental health. You may be very surprised to learn just how similar all the situations are, just how similar the outcomes are and other options available to you. If you would like to join us email, text or call me … anytime … (source known to Justice 4 Workers).
39. The issue of bullying within the QPS is not just represented in the media and the QIRC. As far back
as 2011, a number of submissions were made to the Independent Review of the Queensland Police
Complaints, Discipline and Misconduct System alleging widespread systemic bullying. One
submission was made by a former WorkCover Queensland employee who claimed that;
“My role at WorkCover included regularly reviewing what the QPS would deem “problem claimants” who were on stress leave. Many of these officers had become unwell as a direct result of treatment they received in the QPS by colleagues after ‘blowing the whistle’ about inappropriate behaviours of fellow officers. My position also involved having high level meetings and conferences with senior key personnel of the QPS regarding how they would prefer WorkCover manage some of these claims … I could certainly give you detailed accounts of many claims (using examples) showing the systemic problems police involved in these matters encounter. In particular, Police Officers on claim for stress who were whistleblowers and systemic management practices within the QPS which I felt were clearly designed to manage them out of the service using inappropriate practices. Many of the QPS internal polices (not legislation) were often used by senior managers of the QPS to circumvent WorkCover legislation designed by parliament specifically to assist these people to get back to the workforce after their injuries. Unfortunately many police claims were mismanaged by WorkCover as a direct result of QPS management behavior for several reasons and in several ways … my experiences … indicate a systemic lack of support and worse, sometimes even further bullying and manipulative tactics designed by all stakeholders involved which appears at least to be designed to completely destroy these people …Those that are brave enough to speak up receive less than favourable treatment
‘by the whole system’ and one way or another find that their careers have ended”.35
35 Member of the Public, Submission No 4 to Queensland Government, Independent Review of the Queensland Police Complaints, Discipline and Misconduct System. Available at http://www.premiers.qld.gov.au/publications/categories/reviews/assets/member-of-the-public4.pdf.
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40. Bullying within the Queensland Police Service has been highlighted by the Queensland Police
Union of Employees on more than one occasion. In 2009, Mick Barnes, General Secretary of the
Queensland Police Union stated; “I regularly read and hear denials from QPS management that
bullying does not exist in the QPS. They only need to search their own records to find the
evidence”.36
41. On 9 May 2016, Queensland Police Union Representative Phil Notaro told the Brisbane Times;
"What hasn't been dealt with is systemic managerial corruption within the QPS. The systemic
culture of bullying, intimidation and harassment by senior officers has been the direct downfall of
many a good officer".37
42. Mr. Notaro made further comments in a 2017 Queensland Police Union Journal regarding the
management of the QPS, when he stated;
“I think we need an inquiry into mismanagement by the QPS hierarchy…The QPS has been mismanaged and it’s falling down around us…The leaders of the organisation have to be held accountable, because we are failing the people of Queensland…I have never seen morale this low…”38
43. Comments made by QPS Far Northern Region QPUE Representative Marty Bristow in 2015 sum
up the typical perception of how injured workers are treated;
“Rather than the current attitude of pushing someone until they break and then throwing them away, there needs to be preventative measures put in place and the ability for people to repair and return to work. The sausage factory mentality—when someone is broken or damaged, throw them away—needs to stop now. This goes for management and members both: treat those who have gone through a rough time with respect and dignity, not rumours and innuendo”.39
44. An article published on ABC Online on 24 July 2017 reported on the results of a Queensland Police
Service staff survey. The article identified that “when it came to workplace bullying, only 31 per
cent of respondents said they reported incidents they saw, with the main reasons for staying silent
was fears it would affect their careers or a belief no action would be taken”.40 That in itself provides
evidence of an organisation that is failing it’s employees.
36 Queensland Police Union Journal, November 2009, p.3. 37 http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/police-union-calls-for-probe-into-watchdogs-20160509-goprw2.html. 38 Notaro.P, 2017. Queensland Police Union Journal, March/April 2017 Issue, pp.21-23. 39 (QPUE Journal, December 2015, p.13). 40 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-24/qld-police-survey-results-show-third-of-officers-feel-burned-out/8732972
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 15
45. There has been no shortage of ‘employee satisfaction’ surveys conducted by the QPS over the
years. The surveys have included the following;
a) Report on the Service Delivery and Performance Management Review of the Queensland
Police Service (June 2008).
b) Commissioner’s Organisational Effectiveness Survey (November 2012).
c) Healthy Workplaces Project (2008, 2010, 2011, 2014).
d) Operational Improvement Labs.
e) Values Pulse Survey.
f) Working for Queensland Employee Opinion Survey (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016).
g) QPS Cultural Review.41
46. An objective analysis of these surveys by a reasonable person, would conclude that the statements
by Senior Sergeant Notaro, Sergeant Bristow and Mr. Barnes are correct. Regarding the Gold
Coast Police District Cultural Review undertaken in 2015, only the Executive Summary has ever
been released, which reported that there was no evidence of a widespread negative culture within
the Gold Coast Police District.42 This appears contrary to information from frontline police and
media reports on the issue. In their article on the Cultural Review, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported
that “officers are queuing up in surprising numbers to complain to the inquiry, with one fifth of police
in the Gold Coast district surveyed saying they do not believe their managers show the type of
behaviour expected of all employees”.43 No factual evidence has been publicly released by the
Queensland Police Service to support the conclusion that there is not a widespread negative culture
within the Gold Coast Police District.
47. One of the most common workplace issues reported to Justice 4 Workers is workplace bullying,
particularly psychological injuries caused by workplace bullying within the Queensland Police
Service. This has involved both sworn and unsworn members from all over Queensland, and there
are distinct similarities in the behavior of management in almost all cases.
41 Officer known to Justice 4 Workers Qld – contained within a report to the Honourable Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, n.d. 42 Gold Coast Police District Cultural Review p.5 43 Gold Coast Bulletin, 20 August 2015, available at http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/crime-court/coast-police-review-to-hear-of-womanising-and-gay-bashing/news-story/80b75ef208124b9dae64ea57831dc193 .
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 16
48. On 5 December 2017, the Brisbane Times reported startling figures released by the Crime and
Corruption Commission on misconduct and bullying by Senior QPS Officers. The article highlighted
that;
A total of 33 complaints were made to the Crime and Corruption Commission during the first half of 2017, accusing 15 senior Gold Coast police officers of corruption and misconduct … the CCC said the accusations included senior police bullying and intimidating other officers to "achieve 'aspirational' performance targets”… Those officers who supported such harassment were then given "preferential treatment in recruitment processes and career development opportunities"… Other allegations included a senior officer pressuring junior staff to manipulate crime data and those who refused were then subjected to bullying and victimisation …The CCC said in a statement they found evidence to support the remaining claims regarding ongoing campaigns of bullying, victimisation and favouritism, reprisals, negative workplace behaviours and officers failing to properly report misconduct.44
49. Whilst Justice 4 Workers was gathering information for the purpose of this report, data on bullying
or psychological injuries sustained by civilian QPS staff was not gathered. It can be disclosed
however, that Justice 4 Workers has assisted a number of civilian QPS employees regarding
bullying matters. If statistics regarding bullying and psychological injuries of civilian staff were
included in figures provided by the QPS as well as in the survey conducted by Justice 4 Workers,
the overall figures are expected to be significantly higher than those currently available.
50. It is noteworthy to mention that many police officers are not reporting their psychological injuries to
the QPS through fear of victimisation by management and ostracisation by peers.45 If all police
reported their psychological injuries and if officers felt safe in reporting workplace bullying, it is
again expected that the available figures on workplace bullying and associated psychological
injuries would be much higher.
51. Safe Work Australia (2016) identified that one of the key factors to preventing unreasonable
behavior and managing psychological risks is the commitment of senior management to identify,
prevent and respond to workplace bullying as well as modelling the expected standard of behavior
by their own conduct.46 The QPS are failing in this regard with high ranking members of Gold Coast
police management heavily scrutinized during the last three years for alleged criminal offences and
serious misconduct.
44 https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/more-than-30-corruption-misconduct-complaints-against-gold-coast-police-made-to-ccc-20171205-p4yxeu.html. 45 Justice 4 Workers Qld; Suicide, support systems and organisational culture within the Queensland Police Service, 2017. 46 Safe Work Australia; Guide for Preventing and Responding to Workplace Bullying, May 2016, pp.12-13.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 17
52. In 2017, a Gold Coast Superintendent was suspended and charged with a number of offences
including perjury, abuse of authority, and misconduct. Also on the Gold Coast, a Chief
Superintendent was under investigation for a number of serious matters. In 2015 a Gold Coast
Assistant Commissioner retired amid findings of improper use of police information and for
releasing confidential information that led to an informant being identified. With persons with
questionable integrity at the head of the organisation, it’s no wonder that inappropriate behaviour
such as bullying is not being prevented or suitably risk-managed.
The Relationship Between Bullying and Suicide
53. In 1995, Cantor, Tyman and Slater researched suicide within the Queensland Police Service and
made recommendations that further investigation into the matter was warranted.47 Following the
recommendations of Cantor et.al, in 2010, Dr Tim White, who at the time was a Human Services
Officer within the Queensland Police Service, commenced his own research into suicide and
organisational culture within the QPS. Dr White reported that;
“…according to the Queensland Police Union, the Queensland Police Service had not maintained a dedicated file in relation to Police Suicides since 1992, and no department has the responsibility of maintaining such a record. Therefore, no comprehensive 'police' record exists between the time period 1992 and 2009”.48
54. During the course of his research, Dr White made several requests for records related to police
suicides from the Queensland Police Ethical Standards Command.49 Despite those requests, no
such information was provided and Dr White relied upon “serving Police Officer's knowledge;
'Queensland Police Union of Employee's', Retired Queensland Police, and Police suicide media
reports.50 Dr White identified 6 suicides by Queensland Police Officers between 2001 – 2009.51
47 Cantor. C, Tyman. R, and Slater. P, (1995). A Historical Survey of Police Suicide in Queensland, Australia, 1843 – 1992. 48 White, T (2010) Mateship, an enabling and protective factor associated with Queensland Police Suicide. 49 Ibid 50 Ibid. 51 Ibid.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 18
55. The survey conducted by Justice 4 Workers in 2017 also identified disturbing figures on suicide
attempts and within the Queensland Police Service. Question 3 asked respondents if they have
ever considered suicide, and if yes, what was the main cause? The question permitted multiple
causal factors to be selected. Alarmingly, 221 respondents stated that they had considered
suicide. The leading cause was a lack of support from QPS Management (139 respondents)
followed by exposure to work-related critical incidents or events, (105 respondents), and the third
highest cause was workplace bullying (95 respondents).52 These responses are displayed in chart
form below.
56. Question 4 revealed the most disturbing responses, with 37 respondents admitting to actually
attempting suicide. As with question 3, respondents could select multiple causal factors and
again the leading causal factor was lack of support from QPS management (25 respondents),
closely followed by workplace bullying (15 respondents).53 37 suicide attempts could potentially
have been 37 completed suicides.
52 Justice 4 Workers Qld; Suicide, support systems and organisational culture within the Queensland Police Service, 2017. 53 Ibid.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 19
57. As reported by White, (2010), Grace and Cohen (1998) found that for 233 whistleblowers, one in
ten had attempted suicide and 90% had lost their jobs or were demoted (at p.13).54 In discussing
the suicide and coping methods employed by Queensland Police officers, Lennings (1995)
suggests that when officers become vulnerable for suicide ideation, the work environment serves
to exacerbate their symptoms.55 White (2010), reported that Loo (2003) observed that 'The police
organisation is another significant source of stress because of departmental politics, inadequate
resources to do the job, lack of support and recognition from management, and autocratic
leadership styles.'56
58. Liberman et al. (2002) identified that organisational stress is more stressful to police officers than
exposure to danger and critical incidents.57 In suicide research conducted on the New South Wales
Police, it was found that ‘many police officers who had committed suicide felt that the organisation
had failed to support them (Barron, 2008).58 DeJong, Overholser and Stockmeier (2010) found that
suicide completers were significantly more likely to have encountered significant job stress.59
59. Self-harm by cutting is also a factor that Justice 4 Workers has become aware of in some officers
on sick leave who are experiencing bullying, workplace issues and facing medical retirement. To
be clear, the self-harm observed is not harm that would constitute an attempt at suicide, but rather
superficial cuts that officers have stated provide a sense of ‘release’ from the emotional trauma
they are experiencing. A number of officers on extended sick leave with psychological injuries have
stated that they self-harm, or have self-harmed at some stage.
60. White (2010) also reported that Schwarzer, Knoll, and Rieckmann, (2004) had observed that “the
primary social factor hypothesized to mitigate the negative effects of stress in the work setting is
the degree of social support that an individual receives, and according to Anderson (1991)
perceptions of positive support within the workplace enhances overall mental health”.60 So in an
organisation such as the QPS where it has been identified that there is a lack of support from
management, bullying, and isolation resulting from ‘whistleblowing’, the research would indicate
that the risk of suicide is real.
54 White, T. 2010 – Mateship, a protective and enabling factor in Queensland Police Suicide 55 Ibid. 56 Ibid. 57 Ibid. 58 Ibid. 59 Ibid. 60 Ibid.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 20
Breach of duty of care & failure to exercise due
diligence
61. The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) places various obligations on employers to provide a
safe system of work and safe workplace, as well as to manage risks. Evidence provided within this
report provides a prima facie case that the QPS are failing to meet those obligations. Relevant
sections are referred to below;
Management of risks61
A duty imposed on a person to ensure health and safety requires the person—
(a) to eliminate risks to health and safety, so far as is reasonably practicable; and
(b) if it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate risks to health and safety, to
minimise those risks so far as is reasonably practicable.
What is ‘reasonably practicable’ in ensuring health and safety is defined in S.18 of the Act.
It includes what reasonably could have been done, with consideration of matters
including—
(a) the likelihood of the hazard or the risk concerned occurring; and
(b) the degree of harm that might result from the hazard or the risk; and
(c) what the person concerned knows, or ought reasonably to know, about—
(i) the hazard or the risk; and
(ii) ways of eliminating or minimising the risk; and
(d) the availability and suitability of ways to eliminate or minimise the risk; and
(e) after assessing the extent of the risk and the available ways of eliminating or
minimising the risk, the cost associated with available ways of eliminating or
minimising the risk, including whether the cost is grossly disproportionate to the risk.62
61 Section 17 Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld). 62 Section 18 Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld).
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Primary duty of care63
(1) A person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably
practicable, the health and safety of—
(a) workers engaged, or caused to be engaged by the person; and
(b) workers whose activities in carrying out work are influenced or directed by the
person; while the workers are at work in the business or undertaking.
(2) A person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably
practicable, that the health and safety of other persons is not put at risk from work carried
out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking.
(3) Without limiting subsections (1) and (2), a person conducting a business or undertaking
must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable—
(a) the provision and maintenance of a work environment without risks to health
and safety; and
(b) the provision and maintenance of safe plant and structures; and
(c) the provision and maintenance of safe systems of work; and
(d) the safe use, handling and storage of plant, structures and substances; and
(e) the provision of adequate facilities for the welfare at work of workers in carrying
out work for the business or undertaking, including ensuring access to those
facilities; and
(f) the provision of any information, training, instruction or supervision that is
necessary to protect all persons from risks to their health and safety arising from
work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking; and
(g) that the health of workers and the conditions at the workplace are monitored
for the purpose of preventing illness or injury of workers arising from the conduct
of the business or undertaking.
63 Section 19 Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld).
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62. In order to provide a safe workplace and safe system of work, the organisation must exercise due
diligence in accordance with s.27 (5) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld). This section
provides the requirements for exercising due diligence in prevention of risks to health and safety.
Due diligence includes taking reasonable steps —
(a) to acquire and keep up-to-date knowledge of work health and safety matters;
and
(b) to gain an understanding of the nature of the operations of the business or undertaking
of the person conducting the business or undertaking and generally of the hazards and
risks associated with those operations; and
(c) to ensure that the person conducting the business or undertaking has available for
use, and uses, appropriate resources and processes to eliminate or minimise risks
to health and safety from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or
undertaking; and
(d) to ensure that the person conducting the business or undertaking has appropriate
processes for receiving and considering information regarding incidents, hazards
and risks and responding in a timely way to that information; and
(e) to ensure that the person conducting the business or undertaking has, and implements,
processes for complying with any duty or obligation of the person conducting the business
or undertaking under this Act; and
(f) to verify the provision and use of the resources and processes mentioned in paragraphs
(c) to (e).
63. Section 33 of the Act states that a person commits a category 3 offence if—
(a) the person has a health and safety duty; and
(b) the person fails to comply with that duty.64
64 Section 33 Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld).
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64. A Work Health and Safety Inspector may be assigned to investigate bullying where a prima facie
case exists, and the bullying is causing a risk of injury or illness.65 This report provides undeniable
proof that the Queensland Police Service are creating a risk to health and safety of their staff by;
a) Engaging in and permitting bullying behaviours towards employees;
b) Failing in their duty of care to provide a safe workplace and safe system of work;
c) Failing to exercise due diligence regarding psychological health and safety matters;
d)Failing to collect, monitor and maintain adequate records of bullying related
psychological injuries for the purpose of implementing risk management strategies.
e) Failing to treat bullying complaints seriously; and
f) Not providing a safe environment for officers to report bullying, by failing to ensure
appropriate support and protection for employees.
65. If bullying and harassment creates a risk of psychological injuries to employees, then bullying is a
work health and safety hazard that must be risk-managed to minimise harm. Obtaining QPS
records regarding bullying, psychological injuries, and the success of return to work programs
within the organisation has proven to be extremely difficult. It appears that the record-keeping
practices of the organisation are inadequate, and therefore preventing effective risk management
practices from being implemented and maintained.
66. In December 2016, Justice 4 Workers provided correspondence to the Queensland Police Minister,
the Queensland Minister for Industrial Relations, and also the Queensland Premier Ms Annastacia
Palaszczuk regarding bullying, psychological injuries, and police suicide in the Queensland Police
Service. The correspondence included;
• The results of a survey conducted by Justice 4 Workers Qld on police suicide and
organisational culture, which initially attracted responses from 375 current and former
Queensland police officers (note: the same survey has now been completed by 678
participants);
• A thesis on police suicide and organisational culture within the Queensland Police Service
(QPS), authored by Dr Timothy White (former QPS Human Services Officer); and
• A 68-page research report titled ‘Broken Bullied and Blue’ authored by Kate Rasmussen,
Justice 4 Workers Qld.
65 Workplace Health and Safety Queensland; The Role of Workplace Health and Safety Queensland in Workplace Bullying Complaints, 2014, p.2, retrieved from https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/82900/whsq-workplace-harassment.pdf.
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67. The information presented to the Minister by Justice 4 Workers Qld displayed that there is a bullying
culture within the Queensland Police Service, as well as issues within the current internal support
and rehabilitation framework. In a response dated 3 February 2017, the Chief of Staff for the Office
of the Queensland Police Minister stated;
“I understand that the QPS continues to see a year on year reduction in work caused psychological injuries and in recent years achieved the highest return to work rates since entering the workers compensation system in 1990”.
68. As a result of the Police Minister’s response, Justice 4 Workers made application for information
from the Queensland Police Service under the Right to Information Act 2009. Queensland Police
Service reference numbers RTI20026 and RTI20544 refer. The information specifically requested
was;
• All correspondence forwarded to the Police Minister by the Queensland Police Service in
response to my information;
• How many police officers have lodged workers’ compensation claims for psychological
injuries between Jan 2013 and Jan 2017;
• How many workers’ compensation claims made by Queensland Police officers between
Jan 2013 and Jan 2017 include allegations of bullying and negative workplace behaviours,
whether proven or not, and regardless of whether the claims were accepted by WorkCover
or not; and
• How many psychologically injured workers have been successfully (that is, permanently)
rehabilitated back into the Queensland Police Service either as a sworn officer or in a
civilian role.
69. On 17 March 2017 a member of the QPS Right to Information Section contacted Justice 4 Workers
raising some concerns about the accessibility of the information requested. During the phone call
the employee stated;
“HR advised that we don’t hold that data in easy readable accessible form…we’d be pulling it from a WorkCover database… you’d be better off applying through WorkCover… we would have to go through each and every personnel file to see if they’ve been rehabilitated …it may be unreasonable for us to do that”.
70. The employee was then asked to confirm that the organisation does not keep readily available
records on bullying related psychological injuries, and the employee stated “we would have
something, but it’s not in an easily obtainable form. Someone would have to go into every single
claim to see…”.
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71. On 12 April 2017 the RTI employee contacted Justice 4 Workers again. During the call the
employee again stated how time consuming it was to extract the data requested. The employee
stated;
“the system that they use, you can’t just pull data out of …it’s not a statistical reporting system it’s just for them to record injury management … they see a claim for a psychological injury but don’t necessarily make a huge point of noting why…what do we do about getting them back to work. The ins and outs as to why aren’t necessarily a huge concern, in the sense of, they’ve got a claim, they’re gonna [sic’] deal with it, they’re not gonna [sic] break it down… we have people with psychological claims – what do we do about these people? What can we do to get things better? … They’re not necessarily looking at how many are to do with things like bullying…”.
72. Justice 4 Workers was then charged $640.80 plus a $46.40 processing charge for what was quoted
as taking over 22 hours to extract the information on bullying and return to work rates. A further fee
of $244.80 plus another $46.40 processing fee was paid to obtain the number of psychological
injuries reported between 2013 – 2017 by Queensland police officers. That data was quoted to
have taken 7.5 hours to extract. That is almost 30 hours to extract information that should be
retained and monitored, and that the QPS should have ‘up-to-date knowledge’ of in order to fulfil
the due diligence requirements of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) to minimise risks to
health and safety.
73. I questioned how the QPS could possibly manage risks associated with the health and safety of its
employees if such information is not properly recorded and closely monitored. The staff member
responded with words to the effect of “we’re not really concerned about how an injury is caused,
we just focus on getting them back to work”. This raises concerns about how the organisation is
aiming to provide a safe system of work for its employees if it is not closely monitoring causes of
injuries so as to implement preventative measures. It is the view of Justice 4 Workers that this
constitutes a breach of the organisation’s due diligence and duty of care obligations under the Work
Health and Safety Act 2011.
74. I later questioned a member of the QPS RTI section as to whether the statistics provided by the
QPS to the Police Minister on return to work rates were based on psychological injuries, or all
injuries. I was informed that the statistics provided were for all injuries. What that essentially means
is that every single injury (whether minor or serious) reported by police was included in successful
rehabilitation statistics. This subsequently gives the impression of a higher success rate for
workplace rehabilitation.
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75. I was further advised that the information forwarded to the Police Minister to verify a ‘year on year
reduction in psychological injuries’ only included approved workers’ compensation claims for
psychological injuries. The number of approved claims is less than the number of lodged claims,
and therefore provided the Minister with further misleading information on which he based his
response.
76. The below table was provided to Justice 4 Workers Qld by the QPS to assist with interpreting a
graph that was sent to the Police Minister on the ‘reduced’ psychological injury rates. For the
purposes of relative comparison with other figures obtained, I have shortened the table to only
include information from between 2012 and 2017. What this table shows is simply a reduction in
claim approval rates, and not a reduction in psychological injury claims.
77. Further information obtained under the Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld) from the QPS66 proves
that psychological injury claims are not reducing at all. In fact, the number of claims lodged in 2016
are higher than 2013 and 2015, and only 1 figure lower than the number of claims lodged in 2014.
66 QPS RTI 20544.
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78. The information in the below table was included as Table 2 in RTI request RTI20544 from the QPS;
Year of
lodgment
(Jan to
Dec)
Number of claims
lodged with
WorkCover for a
psychological
injury
Number of police
medically retired
as a result of
psychological
injury for which
WorkCover claim
was lodged
Number of police
career
transitioned as a
result of
psychological
injury for which a
WorkCover claim
was lodged.
Number of police
officers
successfully
rehabilitated
following a
psychological
injury for which a
WorkCover claim
was lodged
2013 96 33 63
2014 100 27 73
2015 85 18 1 66
2016 99 6 93
2017 (as
at 31 Jan)
9 9
*In creating Table 2, data from the IINRS system was extracted and filtered for WorkCover claims lodged by Police Officers as provided by the WorkCover data downloaded into the IINRS.
79. If the above table were correct, it would mean that there were no psychologically injured
Queensland police officers still on sick leave or still participating in return to work programs. Justice
4 Workers Qld can confirm that there are a number of officers who at that time were still on sick
leave or participating in return to work plans, and who therefore have neither medically retired or
been successfully rehabilitated. They are clearly not included in the above statistics. The above
table also suggests that no psychologically injured officers have resigned, and Justice 4 Workers
knows that not to be the case.
80. It is not realistic to expect that all psychologically injured police who have not retired have been
successfully rehabilitated. What clearly stands out as an unrealistic account of data is the January
2017 figures. According to the table, 9 claims were lodged in January 2017 and all 9 officers were
successfully rehabilitated. It would be reasonable to expect that many of those claims lodged in
January would not have even been determined (accepted or denied) by WorkCover Queensland
at the time those figures were provided. This is just one example of how the integrity of statistics
is lacking, and how QPS are failing to record accurate data on work related injuries and the success
of injury management strategies.
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81. A RTI request was also lodged by Justice 4 Workers Qld with WorkCover Queensland, for the
purpose of comparing WorkCover’s psychological injury figures with those provided by the QPS.
WorkCover’s figures were higher than the figures the QPS provided on lodged workers’
compensation claims, however both organisations reported 82 cases alleging bullying, harassment,
or negative workplace behaviours between January 2013 and January 2017.67 It is important to
note that 98 of the cases included in WorkCover’s figures were injury notifications rather than claims.
It is not known if injury notifications were also included in the figures provided by the QPS.
For example;
2013 2014 2015 2016
QPS 96 100 85 99
WorkCover 116 129 113 104
82. Based on the information obtained under RTI by Justice 4 Workers,68 the apparent exclusion of
statistics on bullying by members of management raises obvious concerns. If the statistics do exist
but have been withheld, the transparency and integrity of the Queensland Police Service is
questionable at least. Alternatively, if those figures are not even recorded, the QPS are again
failing to exercise due diligence and duty of care obligations. If figures on the specific causes of
psychological injuries are not routinely recorded, the organisation cannot possibly be seen to be
fulfilling their due diligence and duty of care obligations. If the Queensland Police Service wished
to be viewed as taking the prevention of bullying-related psychological injuries seriously, it would
be pertinent for the organisation to maintain timely and accurate records on the precise causal
factors relevant to such claims.
83. Justice 4 Workers confirmed via email with WorkCover Queensland, that WorkCover Queensland
do not have any provision within the injury reporting system that allows for a specific causal
category of bullying to be nominated. If the person recording the information does not write a
specific cause in a free text field, then the cause is not able to be located without opening and
perusing each claim. This is inadequate given the toll bullying is taking on workers.
67 RTI1617.120 and RTI20544 68 QPS RTI 20544 refers.
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84. The figures that the QPS provided to the Queensland Police Minister regarding police suicide are
also incorrect, at 4/100,000 over the past 15 years.69 In 2016 alone, two serving Queensland Police
Officers took their own lives, as did one medically retired police officer. If all three were included,
that year alone there would have been 25.25 suicides per 100,000. In February 2016, Bruce
Graydon from Blue Hope told the ABC that; ‘suicides within the general population are about 12
per 100,000. In the police, it's north of 18 per 100,000’.70 Justice 4 Workers has knowledge of 3
serious attempts at suicide by 3 officers between August and December 2016 alone.
85. In 2008, the Courier Mail reported that a female Queensland police officer took her own life with
her service pistol inside her workplace shortly after arriving for her shift. 71 More recently in
Queensland, a Detective Sergeant took his own life in 2012,72 a Detective Inspector took his own
life in 2014, 73 and a Detective Senior Constable took his own life in 2015. 74 In 2016 two
Queensland police officer’s took their own lives,75 as did a retired Senior Constable who had been
medically discharged from the Queensland Police Service in 2010.76 In August 2017 a Serving
Queensland Police Sergeant took his own life after suffering from PTSD.77
86. Based on the above publicly available information alone, and using the calculative formula
𝑆𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠
𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑥 100,000 =
𝑆𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠
100,000, the suicide rates amongst Queensland Police Officers are well
above 4/100,000;
2012 - 10,695 officers and 1 x suicide = 9.35/100,000. 2014 - 11,605 officers and 1 x suicide = 8.61/100,000. 2015 - 11,583 officers and 1 x suicide = 8.63/100,000.
2016 - 11,877 officers and 2 x suicides = 16.83/100,000.
* Staff numbers were obtained from the Queensland Police Annual Statistical Review for each year
69 QPS RTI request RTI20026. 70 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-24/calls-for-more-police-psychologists-after-suicide/7196926. 71 Policewoman's suicide shocks workmates; Courier Mail, 23 April 2008. 72 http://www.australianpolice.com.au/ian-francis-tuffield/. 73 http://www.australianpolice.com.au/shane-douglas-dallosto/. 74 http://www.australianpolice.com.au/russell-david-sheehan/. 75 http://www.australianpolice.com.au/olly-isaac/. 76 http://www.australianpolice.com.au/michael-allan-neville/. 77 Sergeant Owen Harms, Miriamvale Police.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 30
87. In a report released by the Queensland Audit Office in 2017, it was reported that there were twenty-
four legal claims against the QPS for injuries at the time the report was compiled.78 The same
report identified that between the start of 2013 and May 2017, injuries to police employees cost the
Queensland Government $13 million for 113 claims for injuries, with more than half of that amount
being paid out for psychological injuries.79 For four out of those five years, psychological injury
claims ‘cost the QPS more in settlement payments per successful claim than physical injuries, or
those with both physical and psychological injuries’.80
88. According to the Queensland Audit Office (QAO), “the Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy
2012–22 identified mental disorders as one of the six national priorities”. 81 The QAO also
documented that “Safe Work Australia reported that between 2008 – 2013, first responders (police,
paramedics, and firefighters) were one of the most at-risk groups”.82 Put simply, there is no
shortage of information available to the QPS to make them aware of the risks to the psychological
health of their employees. The availability of such information leaves the organisation even more
liable to ensure the health and safety of their employees.
89. The QAO reported that although the QPS has a database for recording mental health programs,
“there is no service-wide analysis of broader trends and patterns.”83 The QAO reported that only a
basic analysis is conducted on Workcover claims and welfare cases, which therefore limits the
organisations ability to further develop its understanding of causes of psychological injuries and
subsequently manage risks.84 Further hindering risk management and injury prevention is that the
QPS ‘does not report on how many employees relapse or how long they remain in work’.85 This
makes the success rate of return to work programs and workplace rehabilitation difficult to measure.
90. The 2017 Justice 4 Workers survey found that most survey participants feel that there are
insufficient psychological support systems in place for police. This is a risk to health and safety in
itself, with officers feeling there are inadequate resources available to them to prevent and manage
psychological injuries. This is shown on the diagram on the following page.
78 Queensland Audit Office, Managing the Mental Health of Queensland Police Employees, Report 2, 2017 -18, p.11. 79 Ibid. 80 Ibid. 81 Queensland Audit Office, Report 2 2017 – 18; Managing the Mental Health of Queensland Police Employees, p.11. 82 Queensland Audit Office, Report 2 2017 – 18; Managing the Mental Health of Queensland Police Employees, p.3. 83 Queensland Audit Office, Report 2 2017 – 18; Managing the Mental Health of Queensland Police Employees, p.11. 84 Ibid. 85 Queensland Audit Office, Report 2 2017 – 18; Managing the Mental Health of Queensland Police Employees, p.11.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 31
91. According to the Queensland Audit Office;
“the QPS has no established process for the ongoing psychological health monitoring of general duties and traffic officers. These officers are not offered or required to undertake periodic psychological health monitoring. The QPS is not proactively monitoring the biggest (and arguably highest -risk) component of its workforce”.86
92. In late 2016 – early 2017, a confidential source revealed that a survey was conducted by a Gold
Coast Police Human Services Officer into the psychological wellbeing of officers in the Northern
Investigative Group (Surfers Paradise Criminal Investigation Branch). The survey is alleged to
have revealed that officers were at extremely high risk of psychological injury, yet to date officers
report that nothing has been done to address the issue. NOTE: This report has not been sourced
by Justice 4 Workers, but would be expected to be recorded within Queensland Police Service
records.
93. Question 8 of the Justice 4 Workers Survey conducted in 2017 asked respondents; ‘If you were to
experience depression, PTSD or another stress related psychological injury today, would you feel
comfortable advising your superior officers? If 'NO', why not?’ As well as many survey participants
leaving comments indicative of a bullying culture, other common themes were identified in the
responses received. Some of the responses that were repeated a number of times was that
reporting a psychological injury is career-ending, that there is a lack of trust in the organisation, and
no confidence in any degree of confidentiality being maintained. Stigma, being labelled, and being
overlooked for career development opportunities also featured strongly in responses. In any case,
the responses demonstrate that the current organisational culture is failing our officers.
86 Queensland Audit Office; Managing the Mental Health of Queensland Police Employees, Report 2; 2017-18, p.36.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 32
94. The below table includes a number of comments left by survey participants;
Being medically retired, bullied,
victimized.
From previous experience it was
ignored, then used against me when
I filed a work cover case.
Not supported. QPS will do its best
to get rid of me. Protect the brand
at any cost.
It is proven QPS management do not
support you if you have a work
related psychological injury because
they anticipate litigation. It's easier for
them to get rid of you than to put
effort into rehabilitation.
Know from experience that officers
with psychological injuries are singled
out and targeted to try and get rid
of them.
Because you will be thought of as
broken and need to be pushed into
the too-hard-basket (and it might
be contagious!!!).
Fear of management action - loss of
income.
The attitude is this link is broken get it
out no need to fix it as there's plenty
more officers coming through
everyday.
You are labelled and bullied until
you leave, have a breakdown or
kill yourself.
Fear of being deemed medically unfit
and the QPS getting rid of you
instead of helping you.
I have seen how others have been
treated with mental illness. I felt
completely alone.
From my experience I'd never
advise them of a psych injury
again. They make it worse and try
to push you
out.
Because they will use it against you
to try and deem you unfit and then
accept no responsibility for causing
it.
Everybody in the chain from the
superior upwards would prefer to
cover their own asses than to address
any issues. If they acknowledge that
there are any issues they believe that
they may become the fall guy for the
issues so they along with everyone
else segregate you and cover up
everything so there is
"nothing to see here".
QPS protects the brand not the
employee. I need my pay.
Because you'll be treated differently
as a result.
There are repercussions
Fear of retribution or ridicule Targeted and eventually you leave
with more damage.
Puts a target on you to be 'managed'
out!
Used against you in very bad
ways.
I would never speak out about this
within the QPS. I don't trust senior
officers in terms of confidentiality. I
would prefer to pay for outside help.
Judged in a negative manner.
Superior was a bully in every sense
of the word.
I didn't have any confidence in my
superiors when I was at work. They
just brush you off. They don't have
the expertise to deal with situation
and there is no confidentiality.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 33
Being outcast and not treated fairly.
Would be treated as a problem to get
rid of as opposed to being helped
Fear of reprisal. Fear of being further traumatised
from bullying by superiors.
Because that would be the end of
your career, bosses will disown you
then.
They hold a view to remove you rather
than rehabilitate you
Strategies would be out in place
that will end any hope of a career
They don't care, or brand you as
unworthy and not a real cop.
Because you are automatically
ostracized &
victimized in the workplace!
There is no point. You are only
punished (indirectly) by admitting
you have a problem. I have
witnessed first-hand how poorly the
QPS treats its members once they
have been diagnosed with a
psychological illness as a result of
working with the QPS.
I would be ostracized and eventually
be subject to 'the exiting program'
Qps promote
the need to ignore recovery times if
you are injured, as the most
imperative thing to them is not your
welfare, but to put you back on the
road, despite risks and dangers to
officer safety.
Stigma and treatment of others I
have been witness to.
Bullying and Harassment observed
of others with any injury let alone a
PTSD related one.
I would be immediately isolated and
removed from operational duty.
They use it against you from
agendas to bullying or even to
stop promotion.
They would be sympathetic to your
plight, listening to what you say and
then after a period of time, they do
nothing, say nothing and forget about
your plight, to the point of ignoring
you, just like our Union does unless
you are in the Boys club.
They would out you and would push
for your resignation.
Regardless of all the hype and FB
post and alleged support when you
are travelling down this dark, dark
road no one gives a shit! No one
bothers - unless you become a
poster person for it!
You would get talked about and
bullied.
After explaining what I was suffering
from they (QPS management)
dumped me cold. Not returning phone
calls or emails. This left me still sick
and now without any support.
Career in QPS would be
compromised. Seen as a problem to
get rid of. I've seen it happen.
I advised a PSO of workplace
bullying and not coping with child
sex offence …Within 5 minutes of
the meeting finishing I saw her
laughing with the woman who I
advised was the perpetrator in
my bullying issues.
Generally there is a culture of
bullying and ridicule for
any show of 'weakness'
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 34
Abuse of power
95. Section 18.5 ‘Maladministration’ of the QPS standard of practice defines maladministration as
“administrative action that is unlawful, arbitrary, unjust, oppressive, improperly discriminatory or
taken for an improper purpose”. Further definition is provided in Schedule 4 of the Public Interest
Disclosure Act 2010 which states that maladministration is administrative action that—
(a) was taken contrary to law; or
(b) was unreasonable, unjust, oppressive, or improperly discriminatory; or
(c) was in accordance with a rule of law or a provision of an Act or a practice that is or may
be unreasonable, unjust, oppressive, or improperly discriminatory in the
particular circumstances; or
(d) was taken—
(i) for an improper purpose; or
(ii) on irrelevant grounds; or
(iii) having regard to irrelevant considerations; or
(e) was an action for which reasons should have been given, but were not given; or
(f) was based wholly or partly on a mistake of law or fact; or
(g) was wrong.
96. Additionally, misfeasance in public office is “performing a lawful act, particularly an official act
improperly”.87 It is also defined as being “an abuse of power by a public officer affected by malice
or bad faith”.88 On 12 May 2017, Senior Sergeant Shane Maxwell told ABC Online that "The QPS
has been mismanaged and it's falling down around us," and that "The QPS is failing on every front.
I think we need an inquiry into mismanagement by the QPS hierarchy".89
97. The power afforded to the Commissioner under the provisions of s.8.3 of the Police Service
Administration Act 1990 (Qld) is one of the most common legislative provision used against officers
in often unjustified circumstances. The section provides that if the Commissioner suspects on
reasonable grounds that an officer is unfit for duty on medical grounds, they may direct the officer
to attend an independent medical examination (IME) to assess fitness for duty. The section also
provides the Commissioner with the power to stand an officer down from duty on medical grounds,
and dismiss or medically retire an officer.
87 Australian Law Dictionary, 2nd Edn. Oxford University Press, 2013, p.484. 88 Ibid. See also Northern Territory v Mengel (1995), 18 CLR 307, 370. 89 Retrieved from http://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/politics/queensland-police-moral-lower-than-fitzgerald-inquiry-senior-cop-says/news-story/ad2228f7792c3a1ca63fd6aecddddaf4.
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98. 8.3 Unfitness for duty on medical grounds
(1) If the commissioner suspects on reasonable grounds that an officer—
(a) by reason of physical or mental infirmity is incapable of; or
(b) for any other reason pertaining to the officer’s health or condition, is unfit for the
purpose of;
performing the duties of office, or any other duties as an officer that the commissioner might
reasonably direct the officer to perform, the commissioner is to advise the officer, in writing,
of the suspicion and if upon receipt of such advice the officer does not accept the truth
of the commissioner’s suspicion, the commissioner is to obtain medical opinion on the
matter.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the commissioner—
(a) may nominate any medical practitioner or medical practitioners to examine the officer
concerned and report to the commissioner on the physical or mental health or other
relevant condition of the officer, as the case may require; and
(b) may direct the officer concerned to submit to examination by the nominated medical
practitioner or medical practitioners.
(2A) If the officer concerned fails without reasonable cause to comply in all respects with a
direction given by the commissioner, it is to be conclusively presumed that the commissioner’s
suspicion is true.
(3) If, having regard to any medical opinions expressed by medical practitioners (including any
such opinions furnished by the officer) on the health or condition of the officer concerned, or
because of the presumption prescribed by subsection (2A), the prescribed authority is satisfied
that the officer should not continue to be required to perform the duties of office, then, unless the
commissioner takes action authorised by subsection (5), the prescribed authority may call upon
the officer to retire from the service within a time specified by the prescribed authority.
(4) If the officer called upon to retire does not retire within the time specified, the prescribed
authority may dismiss the officer from the service.
(5) If the commissioner believes the officer referred to in subsection (3) is sufficiently fit to perform
duties as a staff member, then in lieu of the action authorised by subsections (3) and (4) and
without limiting the commissioner’s powers in relation to the officer, the commissioner may—
(a) in writing, appoint the officer to a position as a staff member, at a rate of salary not less
than that of the officer immediately before such appointment; and
(b) direct the officer to report for and perform duty in the position to which the officer is so
appointed.
(6) The person appointed to a position under subsection (5) thereby ceases to be an officer
and is relieved of all powers and duties of a constable at common law or under any Act or law.
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99. One of the key terms contained within s.8.3 is that the Police Commissioner must reasonably
suspect that an officer is unfit for duty on medical grounds. Unfortunately though, this legislative
authority is being used in situations where medical evidence does not support that the officer is
unfit for duty at all, and therefore the Commissioner’s suspicion cannot be reasonable in those
cases. One example is a Sergeant from Northern Region who was stood down on medical grounds
for several years before being reinstated.90 During that time the officer was served with a number
of s.8.3 notices which were all successfully disputed by the officer. Once advised that they would
be reinstated, the officer was then threatened with very loose criminal and disciplinary charges
which were later withdrawn. This behaviour could not be considered as anything other than bullying
and intimidation.
100. A similar course of action was taken against a Gold Coast Senior Constable who is still working
in a fully operational capacity.91 This occurred after the officer reported the conduct of a member
of management.92 Likewise, an officer from Warwick Station was served with a s.8.3 notice and
subjected to an Independent Medical Examination after he and his partner (also a police officer)
reported the conduct of a number of officers and were declared as whistleblowers.93 A Senior
Constable almost fatally stabbed on duty in 2013 was served with his first s.8.3 notice within only
4 months of being injured.94 Since that time, the officer has received at least one other s.8.3 notice
and a stand down notice despite working full time in a non-operational capacity, and despite
medical evidence supporting that the officer should continue to perform duties in that particular
role.95 Justice 4 Workers has assisted that officer to dispute the grounds on which he was
transitioned into a civilian position, where he is doing exactly the same duties as he was doing as
a sworn officer. It was there that another problem with the Commissioner’s powers was identified.
101. When an application to review such a decision is lodged with the Commissioner for Police Service
Reviews (CPSR), it is open for him or her to find that the decision made by the Police
Commissioner was unfair, unlawful or otherwise. Here’s the catch – the Police Commissioner
doesn’t have to act on the recommendations, and can choose to ignore such
recommendations and maintain his original decision. The officer then has to file a judicial
appeal in the Supreme Court in order to have the Commissioner’s decision heard by a judge,
which incurs substantial legal expenses. I am still unsure as to why there even is a CPSR if
their determination does not have to be complied with.
90 See annexures. 91 Ibid 92 Ibid 93 Ibid 94 Ibid 95 Ibid
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 37
102. Section 8.3 of the PSAA in particular is being used as a threat to officers on sick leave, in
order to force them back into their substantive positions, at times against medical advice.
This demonstrates the organisations unwillingness to make reasonable adjustments for workers
who are sustaining legitimate psychological injuries, and there are clearly rules for some and not
for others. Justice 4 Workers has seen the organisation force some officers back to a substantive
position after stating there are no other options, whilst others are permitted to transfer to another
section which appears to be easily arranged when it is suitable to management.
103. Intimidation tactics at return to work case conferences are becoming common practice.
Vulnerable officers will attend to discuss their return to work plan with their doctor and a
member of the QPS injury management section, only to find that a Commissioned Officer is
also in attendance. This can be quite intimidating to officers experiencing psychological injuries.
104. Another tactic is targeting officers for trivial breaches of policy or procedure, or generating
disciplinary complaints against officers for minor matters. Then there is of course the directions
by the Commissioner of Police for officers not to discuss disciplinary matters, stand down
notices, suspensions or complaints they have made against other officers with anybody.
This isolates the officers from their peers and causes further psychological strain. Officers
are essentially ‘managed’ out of the job through acts of maladministration, or by being
subjected to repeated managerial or disciplinary actions that may be lawful, but are not
necessarily conducted in a reasonable manner or for a reasonable purpose. This is how
bullying is hidden behind the mask of ‘reasonable management action’, and how these acts
may actually constitute maladministration and/or misfeasance.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 38
105. In the May 2016 edition of the Queensland Police Union Journal, Mr Denis Sycz, Assistant
Secretary of the Queensland Police Union criticized the Queensland Police Commissioner’s
treatment of officers. Mr Sycz highlighted 11 cases which identified how various forms of
management action (charges, dismissal, investigations) had either been conducted unlawfully,
without sufficient evidence, or where decisions were overturned on appeal. These are all forms
of ‘management action’ often used to bully employees, and the cases referred to by Mr Sycz
are listed below
“1) In 2010, in the matter of Steven Cornish v Commissioner of Police, the Police Service were unlawfully delegating the power to dismiss officers to Assistant Commissioners in contravention of the discipline regulations. (A number of officers had been dismissed via this unlawful delegation.) The QPU wrote to the Service requesting it desist from acting unlawfully, and that request was refused. The Service conceded the legal action in the lead-up to the scheduled hearing, with $9,000 in legal costs awarded against it.96 2) In the case of Compton v Deputy Commissioner Stewart [2010] QCATA, the then Deputy Commissioner Stewart dismissed Officer Compton but for the officer to be reinstated on appeal.97 3) In the case of Kennedy v Deputy Commissioner Stewart [2011] QCAT 667, the then Deputy Commissioner Stewart dismissed Officer Kennedy but for the officer to be reinstated on appeal.98 4) In the case of DA v Deputy Commissioner Stewart (No 2) [2013] QCATA 162, the then Deputy Commissioner Stewart dismissed officer DA but for the officer to be reinstated on appeal.99 5) In the case of Garth v Queensland Police Service [2013] QCATA, the finding of the Appellant jurisdiction of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal was that the penalties ordered against Officer Garth and others involved in this matter were ‘Surprisingly harsh … They were penalties that seem to have been intended to impose punishment, rather than reinforce the need for discipline’.100 6) In the case of Flori v Commissioner of Police & another [2014] QSC 284, a discipline hearing was convened before Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski where he unlawfully used material obtained from a search warrant. A letter was sent to the Deputy Commissioner identifying his unlawful use of the material and asking him to refrain from doing so. He refused. The Supreme Court found it was unlawful for Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski to use the material and ordered $80, 000 in costs.101
96 Sycz, D. Queensland Police Union Journal, May 2016, pp.6 &7. 97 Ibid. 98 Ibid. 99 Ibid. 100 Ibid. 101 Ibid.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 39
7) In the case of R v Jason Ricardo, officer Ricardo was criminally charged by the CCC with an offence of abuse of office pursuant to section 92 of the Criminal Code. The case against officer Ricardo was that he preferred a charge against a defendant without evidence, resulting in the charge being withdrawn on the morning of trial. On the morning of the trial of officer Ricardo’s charge, the CCC withdrew the charge!102 8) In the case of R v O’Keefe [2015], ESC preferred serious indictable offences against Officer O’Keefe and suspended him without pay. Upon the full brief of evidence being delivered to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Director decided, on the state of the evidence, that an indictment would not be presented to the court and the charge was discontinued.103 9) In the case of Kennedy v Commissioner of the Qld Police Service [2015] QSC 219, Commissioner Stewart was asked to disqualify himself from the decision-making process because of an apprehension of bias given his previous involvement and public statements regarding the matter. Commissioner Stewart refused. The Supreme Court found against Commissioner Stewart’s decision and returned the matter for a new decision maker to be appointed who would have an ‘independent mind’. Costs were awarded against Commission Stewart.104 10) In 2015, two officers were charged with very serious offences by ESC in Mackay. Upon the full brief of evidence being delivered to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Director decided, on the state of the evidence, an indictment would not be presented to the court and the charge was discontinued against one officer. In 2016, the other officer was found not guilty by a jury.105 11) In the case of R v Minns, the officer was charged by ESC with four counts of common assault while on duty. After a summary trial, the Magistrate acquitted the officer of all charges and order the Police Service to pay $30, 000 in costs.106
106. In September 2016, the Courier Mail reported that a Gold Coast Police Officer was stood down and
charged with dangerous conduct with a weapon.107 The QPS later withdrew the charges and were
ordered to pay the officer’s legal costs.108
107. Powers afforded to the Commissioner are simply being abused and used to disguise bullying as
‘reasonable management action’. Another example is the fact that the organisation routinely fails
to support workers’ compensation claims for psychological injuries when the cause is linked to
management action of any kind. This results in the injured officer not receiving timely medical
treatment and being left to appeal the decision of WorkCover to reject their claim just to get their
medical expenses covered for an injury that the organisation caused.
102 Ibid. 103 Sycz, D. Queensland Police Union Journal, May 2016, pp.6 &7. 104 Ibid. 105 Ibid. 106 Ibid. 107 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-07/charge-dropped-qld-senior-constable-barry-wellington-gold-coast/7824240 . 108 Ibid.
THE QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE; HOW WIDESPREAD SYSTEMIC BULLYING IS HARMING OUR POLICE 40
Conclusion
108. The evidence contained within this report clearly demonstrates that the QPS is an organisation
failing drastically with regards to the workplace health and safety of its staff. If this much information
is available through media sources and word of mouth, one could only imagine how
substantial the QPS bullying endemic really is. During the compilation of this report many
officers stated that they wanted to provide information but were too frightened to do so. Officers
are not only fearful of providing information to external parties, but they are also frightened to report
bullying within their organisation. The result is that bullying is not being adequately or
appropriately managed and duty of care obligations are not being complied with. With bullying
not being reported or addressed, the health and safety of QPS staff is significantly at risk.
109. Records are not being suitably maintained regarding bullying and bullying-related psychological
injuries, thus breaching the organisation’s due diligence obligations. Bullying complaints are not
been taken seriously and officers are self-harming and attempting suicide because of how they are
being treated by the hierarchy. The impact of bullying on members of the service is being reported
in the media regularly, with the modus operandi of each bullying claim appearing distinctly similar.
With similar information being provided by various sources (Justice 4 Workers survey participants,
Queensland Police Union Executives and officers who have had the courage to speak to the
media), prima facie grounds for an investigation by Work Health and Safety Queensland has clearly
been identified. The QPS is failing to provide a safe workplace and a safe system of work for those
who serve the people of Queensland.
110. We cannot forget that the Police Commissioner himself stated on national television that those who
complain are ‘bitching’ about the problem, and he also implied that they should consider alternative
employment if they are not satisfied with the current situation in the QPS. This comment speaks
volumes and corroborates what so many officers have stated about how they have been treated
by QPS management and how they have been bullied out of the job after reporting bullying or
misconduct. These practices are not acceptable by anyone’s standards and an extensive
investigation is warranted and long overdue.
111. Due to the enormity of the problem, it would be beneficial for Work Health and Safety Qld to use
the powers afforded to them to initiate a statewide investigation into workplace bullying and
breaches of the Work Health and Safety Act that are routinely occurring within the QPS. The health
and safety of employees of the Queensland Police Service will remain at risk if this matter is not
afforded urgent attention, and a thorough enquiry into the organisation’s conduct does not occur.