Culture of ‘systemic discrimination’ in Queensland Police identified

A culture of discrimination in Queensland Police is making it harder to recruit and retain officers.

That’s among the key finding of a 236-page Queensland Human Rights Commission inquiry released today, which identified ingrained prejudice against female, Indigenous and minority officers.

The inquiry made 36 recommendations for change including increasing accountability for leaders, introducing new KPIs for diversity, reviewing physical recruitment assessments that favour men including a 100-metre swimming requirement, and normalising flexible work arrangements.

“Our review found systemic discrimination against women, First Nations and culturally diverse officers is driven by outdated attitudes embedded within long-standing practices and procedures, rather than just a problem of a few bad apples,” Queensland Human Rights Commissioner Scott McDougall told reporters from police headquarters on Tuesday.

“Queensland Police still favours traditional physical skills and attributes that are more often held by white men without primary caring responsibilities. This preference is baked into QPS policies and practices.

“Workplace equality at QPS is not a nice to have. It’s an operational imperative if QPS wants the workforce and skills needed to keep Queenslanders safe.”

One police officer told the inquiry Queenslanders would be “absolutely mortified” if “they actually knew some of the stuff that goes on”.

Another said they would not let their daughter join the police.

“It’s the men in the police. That’s where the danger is … I would never recommend this job to anyone,” they said.