2016-04-12
I am pleased to rise to make a contribution on the Victoria Police Amendment (Merit-based Transfer) Bill 2016, which is a very simple, straightforward and not very long bill — a bill of some six clauses that take up two pages and an extra, seventh, clause, which is the repealing clause, which strays onto the third page. Whilst it is a very simple, straightforward and short bill, it is nevertheless an important bill. It will make some changes to the way that police are transferred in the non-metropolitan areas of Victoria that come out of some investigations and reports that have been carried out by IBAC and the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) and will improve the way that police are transferred in the non-metropolitan area.
It is called the merit-based transfer bill, and it will facilitate merit-based transfers of police officers in non-metropolitan areas for general duty positions. Previously selection for transfer within or to non-metropolitan positions was based on expressions of interest. With the passage of this bill these positions will have to be advertised, and the selection will be on merit. We are supportive of these improvements to ensure that decisions relating to the transfer of officers involve merit rather than being based purely on seniority, which has tended to be the case in the past. These reforms have been made in consultation and agreement with both Victoria Police and the Police Association Victoria and form part of the recent enterprise agreement process. As the acting minister stated in the second-reading speech, this reform will reward performance and facilitate a better spread of police expertise across the state.
Recent IBAC and VEOHRC reports into sexual predatory behaviour and sexual discrimination in Victoria Police respectively identified several factors that enable predatory behaviour by rural police officers in particular and contribute to poor workplace culture, including the inability to attract staff from outside the immediate area, the inability to periodically refresh supervisors and managers and the low proportion of female supervisors and managers in non-metropolitan areas. This bill, according to the government, will complement the work of these reports. As I mentioned, this bill stems in some measure from those reports.
I would also like to note that as a result of our consultations, in particular those with the community legal sector, we see the importance of the Chief Commissioner of Police being able to exercise power under sections 33 and 35 of the act to make direct transfers so that he or she can compulsorily transfer low-ranked officers out of stations to break up poor culture, which is an issue particularly in some non-metropolitan regions, and that is why we have this bill before us. The bill will also remove any barrier to unsuccessful applicants appealing the decision on transfer to the Police Registration and Services Board. These transfer and appeal processes are consistent with the merit-based processes currently used for sergeant, senior and inspector positions.
There are some other points that I would like to make that are not entirely or exactly about the bill but may go towards the culture in the police force, and they relate to the high incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mental illness within Victoria Police. By way of questions on notice and other mechanisms in the Parliament we have queried the amount of appropriate support over the years for current and former police officers or police members with PTSD and mental illness. We know that recently there have been suicides of members and former members, and this is of great concern to us, to members of the community and, I know, to police themselves. Chief Commissioner of Police Graham Ashton has raised the issue and has in fact called for the appointment of a government minister for ex-police affairs to help combat the mental health crisis, particularly in light of the five serving officers who have taken their lives this year alone, which is a great tragedy for the families and colleagues of those officers and a great concern to the community.
We have also raised the issue of the high incidence of bullying in the police force. We raised with the minister whether there should be an inquiry into this culture of bullying similar to the recent VEOHRC inquiry into sexual harassment. So far the minister has not responded positively with regard to that. We do understand, however, that there is an inquiry into the mental health and wellbeing of Victoria Police employees being undertaken by Dr Peter Cotton.
These are issues that are very important to raise. I listened with great interest to the very wideranging contribution by Mr O'Donohue with regard to the staffing of police stations in various areas of the state and the numbers of police. Certainly they are important issues, but I would reiterate the Greens position that it really is not up to the government of the day to decide where police or protective services officers are deployed. That is the role of the chief commissioner and police command. We would not want politicians to be making decisions about where police are deployed or stationed. That should be an operational decision by the police commissioner.
I was waiting also for Mr O'Donohue to raise a question that was in fact raised by Mr Clark in the other place with regard to this bill, which was: why does the bill not apply to all positions — merit-based transfer for all positions — and why is it only for non-metropolitan positions? It is a question that we have in mind as well, so I am looking across at the minister responsible as to whether he will be able to answer that question.
Mr Herbert interjected.
Ms PENNICUIK — It will be interesting to hear the answer to that question because one would think that merit-based transfers should apply across the police force rather than just in non-metropolitan areas. As I have outlined, we understand the particular reasons it is being targeted here, but one would think that this type of merit-based transfer should apply across the force. With those few words the Greens support this bill.