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    Third progress report

    The Office of the Independent Implementation Supervisor—Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce Reforms: Biannual Progress Report 3 (November 2023) (third progress report) considers the progress of the Queensland Government Response to the two Hear her voice reports by the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce and The Independent Commission of Inquiry into Queensland Police Service responses to domestic and family violence (A Call for Change) for the period 1 April to 30 September 2023.

    Of the 63 recommendations that were due to be delivered in this period, the majority have been completed, with 62 percent of all recommendations considered fulfilled and closed. A substantial focus of effort has been on building the foundations of the new domestic, family and sexual violence system. This includes progressing legislative reform, establishing monitoring, evaluation, and governance mechanisms, and improving police, legal and judicial responses.

    63 recommendations were due for completion by 30 September 2023. Of these, 62% (39 recommendations) are fulfilled and closed. 8% (5 recommendations) are fulfilled and not yet closed. 22% (14 recommendations) are in progress and delayed. And 8% (5 recommendations) are near completion. Further, 21 recommendations had a significant milestones scheduled for completion by 30 September 2023, and in scope for IIS Progress Report 3. Of these, 15 have been completed and 6 are in progress and delayed. Key achievements across the recommendations and milestones implemented include: 1) introduction of the Criminal Law (Coercive Control and Affirmative Consent) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 in Parliament. 2) amendments to the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1978 (Qld) to remove the restriction on the publication of the identity of an adult accused of a sexual offence before a committal hearing. 3) commencement of the new High Risk Team in Townsville. 4) appointment of an Interim Victims’ Commissioner, Jon Rouse APM, on 2 September 2023. And 5) implementation of a Cultural Capability Training Package for QPS recruits.

    The Office of the Independent Implementation Supervisor (OIIS) spoke to 97 stakeholders across 35 organisations which comprised 11 government agencies, 19 non-government organisations and five statutory bodies. Stakeholders commended the progress made to date and largely spoke about preparing the domestic and family violence service system for the introduction of the new offence of coercive control, which is a significant component of the first Hear Her Voice report.

    Stakeholders raised several concerns about the readiness of the DFV service system for the new offence of coercive control. The reform program must be carefully sequenced to ensure a streamlined approach to delivery that will optimise outcomes. Further clarity is needed on the phasing of the reform program over the short, medium and long-term, and interdependencies between recommendations. As a compendium to the Master Plan suggested previously, the IIS concluded that the Government should produce an overarching narrative that illustrates the vision, phasing and interdependencies of the reform program. Service readiness in meeting current and anticipated demand for DFSV services remains a common concern. Services are primarily crisis driven and the system is unable to meet current demand. The workforce should be supported to strengthen service capacity to meet anticipated demand, and capability to provide trauma-informed and culturally safe service responses. There are major barriers to service preparedness in recruiting and retaining skilled staff, and in sustaining high levels of training. The IIS found there would be benefit in combining and coordinating training efforts across sectors to leverage existing work and sustain the current effort into the future. This would also provide an opportunity to align training expectations across sector stakeholders. There were concerns that the poor experiences of First Nations women in the DFV system and the overrepresentation of First Nations people in the criminal justice system will likely be compounded by the criminalisation of coercive control. It is necessary to increase community understanding of DFV, including coercive control, before the coercive control offence commences. Recommendations that should be prioritised as they are foundational to support the new Coercive Control legislation include: 1) primary prevention of violence against women in Queensland strategy. 2) Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Engagement and Communication Strategy. 3) monitoring and evaluation framework for the DFSV service system. 4) establishment of a DFV peak body and for sexual violence services. 5) strategy to address overrepresentation of First Nations people in the criminal justice system and meet Closing the Gap justice targets. 6) supporting the uplift of data collection and reporting systems across the DFSV service system more broadly.