Queensland Police have been found to have unlawfully shared the addresses of domestic violence victims with their offenders in seven documented cases. A report released by the Information Commissioner, Joanne Kummrow, highlighted that this breach of privacy occurred despite the police being aware of the risks for several years.
The investigation was initiated in December 2022 after concerns were raised by Nine News. Victims, often in hiding and facing harassment, had their home addresses recorded as the location of offences. These details were then included in court documents that were accessible to the offenders. At the time of the initial revelations, Steve Gollschewski, the then-Commissioner of Queensland Police, stated that the police were uncertain about the extent of the issue, relying only on what had been reported.
In response to the allegations, senior police officials explained that the problem stemmed from a feature in their data systems that auto-filled information. Officers were required to manually redact sensitive details to prevent disclosure.
Kummrow’s findings, released on March 15, 2024, indicated that police had been aware of the potential for such risks since at least 2017, but did not take appropriate action to rectify the situation. “A privacy breach of this nature is unquestionably serious as it risks further physical and psychological harm to victim survivors from perpetrators of domestic and family violence,” Kummrow stated.
The report pointed to failures at both the technical and administrative levels within police policies and systems, marking a breach of state privacy laws. Despite these findings, Kummrow opted not to issue a compliance notice, citing the proactive steps taken by the police to address the problem after it was highlighted.
To prevent similar breaches in the future, Kummrow recommended several measures. These include strengthening the protections of personal information held by police, providing better guidance for officers regarding privacy protocols, and improving support for individuals filing privacy complaints.
The findings have raised significant concerns about the safety and privacy of domestic violence victims, emphasizing the need for rigorous safeguards in police procedures to protect sensitive information. The Queensland Police are now under scrutiny to implement these recommendations effectively to ensure the safety of vulnerable individuals in the community.
