Notes about sector insights dataThe corruption trends, risks and enablers described in these pages are based on a review of complaints received by the CCC relating to the Queensland Police Service between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2025, as well as investigations, intelligence and open-source information from the same period. These insights provide general observations about the sector as a whole over that period, and individual parts of the sector may experience their own unique corruption risks. As these insights have been drawn from various sources, some observations may be slightly different to the data in the Corruption Complaints Dashboard (CCD) and Corruption Allegations Data Dashboard (CADD). CCD, CADD and these sector insights should be considered together to provide a range of perspectives on the risks for a given sector or agency. |
Overview
The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is Queensland’s primary law enforcement and community safety agency.
Police in Queensland are given significant powers and resources to keep the community safe. This includes the power to arrest and detain alleged offenders, powers to search and seize property, and the power to use force that is reasonably necessary to protect the community from harm.
Queensland police make decisions which affect the lives of individuals, the safety of the community, and how public funds are prioritised and used.
The QPS is a large, complex, statewide organisation, which includes frontline, frontline support and corporate functions.
The CCC as Queensland's police oversight body oversees both corrupt conduct and police misconduct, police related incidents and the police discipline system. Unless otherwise noted, the data in these pages and references to “corruption” include both corrupt conduct and police misconduct.
These factors give rise to a unique combination of corruption risks and enablers. The CCC’s corruption priorities also include priorities of relevance to the QPS. In turn, this requires specific prevention approaches and close collaboration with QPS to support them in dealing with corruption in the service.
The insights provided here are drawn from analysis of CCC complaints, investigations and other intelligence, along with reviews of publicly available reports, literature and data.
- The QPS’ workforce includes both police officers (also referred to as “sworn officers” or “sworn members”) and staff members who are unsworn employees employed under the Public Sector Act 2022.
- As of 2026, the QPS had more than 19,000 paid employees, including police officers and staff members.
- According to the 2026–27 Queensland Government budget, the QPS manages a budget of over $4 billion, most of which is allocated to police and community safety.
- Queensland has seven police regions and 15 police districts.
| Far Northern Region | Far North District | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Region | Mt Isa District | Townsville District | |
| Central Region | Capricornia District | Mackay District | |
| North Coast Region | Wide Bay Burnett District | Sunshine Coast District | Moreton District |
| Brisbane Region | North Brisbane District | South Brisbane District | |
| South Eastern Region | Logan District | Gold Coast District | |
| Southern Region | Darling Downs District | Ipswich District | South West District |
- In June 2024, the State Emergency Service (SES) and the newly established Marine Rescue Queensland (MRQ) became services in their own right within the QPS.
