CMC Chairperson, Mr Robert Needham, presided over a public forum at Cairns on 16 October 2007. The forum was part of the CMC’s Indigenous Policing Inquiry and was conducted under sections 176 and 177 of the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001.
The forum began with the CMC Indigenous Liaison Officer acknowledging the traditional owners for Cairns and Mr Needham welcoming everyone in attendance.
Mr Mark Pathé (the Inquiry’s Project Manager) then:
- explained how the CMC had consulted with stakeholders and undertaken research so far
- outlined what the CMC’s consultations and research tended to indicate.
Mr Needham invited various community, police and other agency representatives to comment or expand on the information Mr Pathé presented to the forum.
Following the inquiry, the CMC presented a report to State Parliament.
The hearing followed months of extensive consultation with local councils, community groups, and local police in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Reports
2012
Indigenous people in policing roles report
Indigenous people in policing roles report summary
2009
Restoring order: Crime prevention, policing and local justice in Queensland's Indigenous communities
2007
Issues paper: Inquiry into Policing in Indigenous communities
Speakers
The community, police and other agency representatives who spoke during the forum were:
- Mr Trevor Adcock (Far Northern Region, Queensland Police Service)
- Snr Sgt Lillian Bensted (Cultural Advisory Unit, Office of the Police Commissioner)
- Ms Elaine Berlin (Member, Barambah Local Justice Initiative Group and Director of Nursing, Cherbourg)
- Ms Lyn Booth (Coordinator, Woorabinda Community Justice Group)
- Sgt Andrew Clarkson (former Officer-in-charge, Aurukun Police Station)
- Mr Brian Connolly (former Coordinator, Yarrabah Community Justice Group)
- Snr Sgt Greg Cruise (Projects Officer, Officer of the Commissioner of Police and former Officer-in-charge, Thursday Island Police Station)
- Ms Vanessa Deakin (Coordinator, Pormpuraaw Community Justice Group)
- Mr Shane Duffy (Chief Executive Officer, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service South Qld Pty Ltd)
- Mr Andy Henderson (Assistant Commissioner, Far Northern Region, Queensland Police Service)
- Ms Sandra Kennedy (Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Service, Mount Isa)
- Mr Gary Kleidon (former Chief Executive Officer, Aurukun Aboriginal Shire Council)
- Ms Heron Loban (Lawyer, Torres Strait Northern Peninsula Legal Services, Thursday Island)
- Mr Scott McDougall (Director, Caxton Legal Centre Inc)
- Mr Stewart Marquardt (Coordinator, Wujal Wujal Community Justice Group)
- Ms Margaret Mau (Chairperson, Island Coordinating Council, Torres Strait)
- Fr Ned Mosby (Community Police Sgt, Yorke Island, Torres Strait)
- Ms Margaret Palmer (Research Fellow, Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership)
- Insp Russell Rhodes (Far Northern Region, Queensland Police Service)
- Cr Laurence Weazel (Mayor, Woorabinda Aboriginal Shire Council)
- Mr Leon Yeatman (Chief Executive Officer, Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council)
Observers
The agency representatives who attended the forum as observers were:
- Ms Natalie Barney (Acting Manager, Indigenous Sports Unit, Department of Local Government Sport and Recreation)
- Mr Lars Falcongreen (Legal Practice Manager, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service North Qld Pty Ltd)
- Mr Rod Goodbun (Assistant Director, Law and Justice Policy, Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Department of Communities)
- Ms Pauline Peel (Government Coordinator, Indigenous Service Deliver, Department of Communities)
The CMC has published in full on this website all the submissions provided to the inquiry, except for where it was:
- requested that the submission not be published
- requested that part of a submission not be published
- requested that details of a person’s name and/or contact details be withheld
- considered by us that information provided in a submission may adversely affect the rights of a person (for example, the right to privacy).
Some submissions that were originally published have since been removed at the request of the author.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the submissions are not necessarily the views of the Crime and Misconduct Commission. The submissions may contain inaccuracies and opinion.
Submissions by date received:
April 16: Doug Brownlow
April 23: P F Lafsky
May 15: Kevin McNulty
May 17: Barbara Ashby
May 18: E M Grant
May 21: Napranum Aboriginal Shire Council
May 23: Russell Steele
May 24: Department of Local Government, Planning, Sport and Recreation
May 28: Torres Strait Regional Authority
May 30: Environmental Protection Agency
May 31: Levitt Robinson Solicitors
June 1: Anonymous
June 1: Gwenda Prickett
June 4: Auditor-General of Queensland
June 4: Sisters Inside
June 7: Queensland Corrective Services
June 8: Australian Institute of Criminology
June 11: JCU Law School - Townsville
June 14: Department of Emergency Services
June 15: George Villaflor
June 15: Queensland Law Society
June 26: Mer Island Justice Committee
June 26: Torres Strait Island Community Police
July 6: Queensland Health
July 10: Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (Qld South)
July 13: Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries
July 24: Department of Child Safety
July 31: Caxton Legal Centre
August 9: Legal Aid Queensland
August 24: Queensland Police Service
September 20: Department of Communities
October 16: Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership
