The Law Handbook 2024

Chapter 12.4: Complaints against Victoria Police 1143 have had a chance to discuss their version of events with each other. If you decide to delay lodging your complaint, you should still complete all the steps in ‘Collecting evidence’, above. Doing this will enhance your credibility and increase the chances of your complaint being proved to be true. You should also write down your reasons for delaying lodging your complaint. Where can complaints be lodged? Complaints about Victoria Police officers can be made to: • the station commander of any police station; • the PSC; • IBAC; or • the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission ( VEOHRC ) or to the Australian Human Rights Commission ( AHRC ), if the complaint relates to discrimination. For the contact details of these organisations, see ‘Contacts’ at the end of this chapter. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who have a complaint about a Victoria Police officer and want to complain directly to Victoria Police also have the option to contact a Police Aboriginal Liaison Officer (see ‘Contacts’ at the end of this chapter). Where to complain: Service complaints It is appropriate to lodge minor complaints (e.g. a police officer was rude) at the police station that is nearest to where the incident occurred. Complaints can be made to the police officer in charge of the station (usually a senior sergeant). The police officer should write down the details of your complaint. Where to complain: Misconduct complaints Complaints about misconduct by Victoria Police officers should be made to either the PSC or to IBAC (see ‘Contacts’ at the end of this chapter). Lawyers working in this area usually advise their clients to complain to the PSC and not to IBAC, for the reasons outlined below. Even though IBAC has the power to investigate police misconduct, in reality, IBAC refers the majority of complaints about police misconduct to the Victoria Police for investigation. This includes serious complaints (e.g. assault). If you lodge a complaint with Victoria Police (either through PSC or at a police station), you can access documents about the investigation using the freedom of information process (see Chapter 12.3: Freedom of information law). However, if you lodge a complaint with IBAC, you may be unable to access these documents through freedom of information, even if IBAC refers your complaint to Victoria Police, and a police officer investigates your complaint. There are also a significant number of secrecy provisions in the IBAC Act. This means that it is extremely unlikely that you will obtain any documents from IBAC regarding your complaint or about IBAC’s decision regarding your complaint. IBAC may classify a complaint as being a ‘public interest disclosure’ (previously known as a ‘protected disclosure’) within the meaning of the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2012 (Vic) (previously known as the Protected Disclosure Act 2012 (Vic)). If this occurs, be aware that the information in your complaint becomes highly confidential; if you reveal or disclose this information to a third party, you may be subject to criminal sanctions. Where to complain: Discrimination complaints Complaints about Victoria Police officers that involve racism or other forms of discrimination can be made to VEOHRC or AHRC (see ‘Contacts’ at the end of this chapter). However, complaints of discrimination can only be made to VEOHRC or AHRC in some circumstances. In general, a complaint can be made to VEOHRC when you are alleging that discrimination occurred by police officer(s) when the officers were providing a ‘service’ to the public. For example, police officers are considered to be providing a public service when they attend a scene following a request for assistance, when officers are in the process of preventing