By Anna Nguyen Program Manager, Police Accountability Project Over the last few years, we have witnessed the expansion of police powers and the encroachment on our rights to peaceful protest, with no corresponding measures to monitor or hold police to account when things go wrong. On 11 September 2024, Victorians witnessed hundreds of police in riot gear, armed with batons […]| Police Accountability Project
A class action in the Supreme Court could shape how Victoria Police officers use capsicum spray at public protests. Class actions firm Phi Finney McDonald, supported by Inner Melbourne Community Legal, initiated a class action against the Victorian Government relating to Victoria Police’s use of oleoresin capsicum spray (OC spray) on protesters outside the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) […]| Police Accountability Project
The IMARC class action is being brought by Mr Jordan Brown on behalf of protesters who were sprayed by Victoria Police with Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) foam at the IMARC Protest on 30 October 2019 between 12:10 and 12.35pm. If this is you, then you are automatically a group member in the proceeding. The Supreme Court has ordered that any group […]| Police Accountability Project
Victoria Police Engaged in Racial Profiling During the Covid-19 Pandemic 27 June 2023 MELBOURNE, VICTORIA: Inner Melbourne Community Legal (IMCL) has called on the Victorian Government to waive all COVID-19 fines after its groundbreaking study revealed that Victoria Police engaged in racial profiling when it issued infringement notices during the first year of the COVID pandemic. The report, Policing COVID-19 […]| Police Accountability Project
Decline in trust of Victoria Police unsurprising after countless scandals Today, The Age released a report on the declining trust Victorians have on police integrity. The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Human Rights Law Centre, Robinson Gill and Police Accountability Project have released a media release on the need for a Police Ombudsman. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, legal and human […]| Police Accountability Project
The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS), the Police Accountability Project and other community legal centres and Aboriginal organisations have called on Premier Daniel Andrews to overhaul the state’s failed police oversight system with the introduction of a Police Ombudsman. VALS and the Police Accountability Project are part of a coalition of lawyers, non-profit organisations and legal […]| Police Accountability Project
Capsicum spray class action filed against Victoria Police A class action has been filed against the Victorian State Government regarding Victoria Police’s use of capsicum spray and excessive force against protesters at the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) in Melbourne in October 2019. The case, which was filed this afternoon at the Supreme Court of Victoria by class action […]| Police Accountability Project
PAP has recently released two important reports around policing in the past months. PAP is proud to release these two very important reports. The first is on Predictive Policing and the tools Victoria Police use to assess risk on young people. The other is on COVID-19 Policing which was undertaken by a coalition of organisations in 2020. Predictive Policing Predictive […]| Police Accountability Project
Government review Two recent inquiries have recommended changes to Victoria’s police complaints system. The Department of Justice is now responding with a review that should see new processes introduced by the end of this year. There is a strong likelihood that the current system will finally change. But the Government needs to hear from enough affected people, because the police […]| Police Accountability Project
IBAC has recently handed down its report into racist, sexist and homophobic comments by the former head of Victoria Police’s ethics department, Assistant Commissioner Brett Guerin.[ref]https://www.ibac.vic.gov.au/publications-and-resources/article/operation-turon-special-report-october-2021[/ref] Called Operation Turon, IBAC’s investigation found damning evidence of online misconduct by Mr Guerin. But once again, this has been lost opportunity to identify and tackle systemic racism within...| Police Accountability Project