‘Wouldn’t let my daughter work for QPS’: Review exposes ‘systemic’ discrimination within Qld police

A report released today (10 December) by the Queensland Human Rights Commission (QHRC) on the Queensland Police Service (QPS) has revealed that systemic discrimination is widespread throughout the workplace, forcing police to leave the organisation.

“It’s not just a few bad apples – discrimination is systemic.” The Strengthening the Service report released by the QHRC has brought to light some rather harrowing findings of the internal issues that have been deemed systemic in the QPS.

The 16-month review – released today – discovered attitudes embedded within longstanding practices and procedures that continue to discriminate against diverse members of the QPS, contributing to police leaving the force.

“Policing is an incredibly challenging job. We all rely on the dedication and service of those who wear the uniform, and it is important we work to create a safer, more equitable workplace for all QPS officers,” said Queensland human rights commissioner Scott McDougall.

“Unfortunately, this is not a case of simply rooting out a few bad apples. QPS’s workplace culture and systems have allowed discrimination to thrive and systemic discrimination needs systemic solutions.”

Complaint process ‘like a domestic violence relationship’

The report covered the experiences of more than 2,800 current and former members of the QPS who shared their views and insights into the organisation.

Perspectives from the employees offered a closer look into the inner workings of the organisation, which reflected a workplace that has an embedded discriminatory culture, emboldened by higher-ups in the organisation.

According to the report, these embedded organisational structures that permeate these discriminatory behaviours are upheld by a culture of silence and negligence.

“You’re just told to be quiet, and if you do make a complaint, you are 100 per cent the person at fault because you’re a dog and because you only made a complaint to get ahead,” one respondent said.

Another respondent said: “After making a complaint, I went to a send-off, and it was like I was kryptonite.”

One respondent likened the process of submitting a formal complaint to that of a relationship that involves domestic violence – highlighting how volatile it can become.

“The relationship with the QPS is like a domestic violence relationship. You just get bashed and beaten, and you know that you’re not safe. And you can’t tell anyone about it, because it’s going to be worse for you,” the respondent said.

“They make you feel like you’re the problem, stop complaining, go away little girl, be quiet, you.”

Respondents believe that this attitude trickles down from the organisational leaders – who themselves are often guilty of directly taking part in racist, sexist, and misogynist behaviour.

“The highest-ranking person in the room sets the standard and tolerance for behaviour and hence inclusion. It is true for the highest-ranking person in the room, the standard you walk past is the standard you accept. I have lost count of the times I have seen high-ranking police laugh and join in with sexist, racist, homophobic and other non-inclusive behaviour,” said a respondent.

‘Wouldn’t let my daughter work for QPS’

The deep-rooted sexism within the organisation was a focal point of the report. The report stated that, historically, policing in Queensland has been dominated by white men, which, in turn, has manifested a culture of masculine norms being the valued identity at the QPS.

This, of course, has led to instances of sexual harassment, blatant sexism, and a culture that ostracises women who have the courage to speak out against this behaviour.

“If members of the community actually knew some of the stuff that goes on, I think they would be absolutely mortified because that’s not the police service that they think is out there protecting them,” said one respondent.

“[Someone] said to me, if you had a daughter that wanted to join the police, would you let her? I was like, absolutely not. And [they] said, why? And I said, because it’s the men in the police. That’s where the danger is … I would never recommend this job to anyone,” said another respondent.

“Women aren’t at the table where the big decisions are made.”

According to the data, as of 31 January 2024, the overall proportion of women in the QPS resided at 28.4 per cent, with 9.1 per cent being at superintendent level (1/11), 17.5 per cent being at superintendent level (10/57), and 21.6 per cent being at inspector level (51/236).

This underrepresentation of women in leadership was directly pointed towards as a key issue for this embedded culture. “The policy hasn’t changed as it is white men writing the policy,” said one respondent.

However, even when women are awarded with leadership positions, they still face ostracisation from their male counterparts, claiming they didn’t earn the position and that they were given it as a form of tokenship.

As the report highlights, female officers who were successfully promoted were directly told they only got the job because they were female or “slept their way to the top”.

“If a female was to get promoted, it’s because she was screwing the boss. A male can get a promotion on his own merit, but if it’s a female, it’s because she was having sex with a male on the panel, or a male in a higher role helped her get that job,” said a respondent.

Both women and First Nations catch the brunt of this behaviour, which is marinated throughout the organisation. First Nations officers reflected on their journey within the QPS, stating that if you don’t align with certain parameters, it’s nearly impossible to climb the organisational ladder.

“You will never get promoted beyond Sergeant if you don’t play the game. That is the QPS way,” said one respondent.

Another respondent said: “The people getting relieving positions were just good mates with the Sergeant. If you’re not in the cool kids’ group with the Sergeant, you don’t get recommended for things.”

A First Nations respondent also said: “I’ve been promoted a few times. But I wouldn’t have been promoted if I vocalised my Aboriginality much more. That is for certain for me.”

Pathway forward

The review concluded with the QHRC making 36 recommendations, which they believe will lead the QPS towards a more diverse and equal workplace. McDougall believes that part of the challenge that the QPS faces moving forward is the traditional outlook that remains within the organisation.

“The nature of policing has changed considerably in recent decades. Policing is becoming more complex, and police need a range of skills to successfully serve our diverse, multifaceted community. Police from diverse backgrounds bring unique skills and experiences to the job that QPS should value and recognise.

“For example, police recruits are required to swim 100m before they can join QPS – despite rarely, if ever, needing to swim while on duty. It means the ability to swim is valued higher than other valuable skills like the ability to speak other languages, or use emerging technologies that are increasingly critical to policing,” said McDougall.

One of the key recommendations was for the QPS to review its minimum diversity targets moving forward while also reviewing how they are reported. Although this is an important recommendation, the QPS workforce itself showed little to no interest in diversity being increased throughout the organisation.

As the report stated, over 74 per cent of police opposed the idea of increasing diversity more seriously through targeted attraction and recruitment strategies. The report argued that these views reflected disdain for a previous 50:50 gender strategy that was implemented and failed miserably, while simultaneously highlighting the fundamental tension between the notion of merit and differential treatment.

This disdain towards what is a major component of the recommendations is somewhat alarming, and unless that widespread view of diversity can be changed, implemented policies may have a hard time formulating the desired results. We will see how this plays out as the QHRC is set to evaluate the QPS’ implementation of the recommendations from October 2026 to late 2027.