Eighty-two per cent of people sampled in a study conducted by Victoria University have reported experiencing at least one form of interpersonal violence when participating in community sport as a child.
Key points:
Three-quarters of respondents said they had experienced psychological violence or neglect in children’s sport
Seventy-three per cent experienced violence from their peers, and 66 per cent said they had from a coach
Women experienced higher rates of sexual and psychological violence, as well as neglect
The survey, which is the most comprehensive of its kind in Australia, asked 886 adults whether they had experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence, as well as neglect, from either coaches, peers or parents during childhood.
Seventy-six per cent said they had experienced psychological violence or neglect, 66 per cent reported physical violence and 38 per cent reported sexual violence.
One in three respondents, meanwhile, said they had experienced all four forms of violence.
The respondents had participated in a large variety of sports, with nearly 70 represented.
Seventy per cent of respondents experienced physical and psychological violence from a peer. (Designed by The Infologist for Victoria University)
While such large numbers may come as a surprise to some, study co-author Mary Woessner said she was not shocked.
“From the literature, and knowing what’s happening internationally, I would say that’s right about what we were expecting,” Dr Woessner told the ABC.
“One of the first things you need to create change, positive change, is generate understanding that there’s a problem.
“We just want people to know it exists, so we can make evidence-based decisions to change it.”
Dr Woessner’s co-author, Aurélie Pankowiak, explained that the survey asked participants about explicit examples of violence they may have experienced in a sporting context.
Aurélie Pankowiak co-authored the study with Mary Woessner.(ABC News: Andie Noonan)
For neglect, for example, participants were asked if they had experienced being refused time off for medical injuries.
For psychological, participants were asked whether they had been insulted, threatened or humiliated (for example by being bullied, given an unwanted nickname violence or otherwise ostracised).
“We had very concrete examples of different types of violence, so we did not leave it up to the person’s interpretation of whether or not what they experienced was violent,” Dr Pankowiak said.
There are “significant” cultural issues within the Queensland Police Service (QPS) affecting how officers respond to domestic violence, the state’s most senior officer in charge of domestic violence investigations has told an inquiry.
Key points:
Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd says the majority of criticism of police cultural issues is “unchallenged”
He told the inquiry inexperience, lack of training and officer burnout were contributing to poor culture
Police data shows a major jump in strangulation cases and DVO breaches in the past five years
The commission of inquiry, which began on May 30, is examining the police response to domestic and family violence cases.
Headed by Judge Deborah Richards, it is also probing the over-representation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system and the way corrupt conduct and complaints against police are handled.
The inquiry heard today from Assistant Police Commissioner Brian Codd, the head of the state’s domestic violence and vulnerable persons command, who gave his take on the evidence heard in the public hearings so far.
Counsel assisting the commission Ruth O’Gorman said the issues raised included officers avoiding DV call-outs, showing “disinterest” when attending call-outs, conducting “insufficient investigations” and misidentification of the victims and perpetrators.
“There are significant issues of police culture at play here that need to be addressed,” Assistant Commissioner Codd told the inquiry.
“We may have some members, albeit I hope very few, who do have some deeply misogynistic attitudes”
“I do accept that there are significant areas of concern that have been raised… that certainly will require us to look… beyond just isolated incidents.”
‘Pockets of issues’ around police culture
Assistant Commissioner Codd said he accepted “the majority” of evidence given relating to police culture was “unchallenged”.
“There’s very clearly in my view … pockets of issues of poor performance … behaviors and attitudes across our organization — aspects of culture that are impacting on our performance of our duty in DV,” Assistant Commissioner Codd told the inquiry.
“I certainly accept that the evidence provided has highlighted a range of concerning aspects of culture.
“It’s far from, in my humble opinion, the majority.
“But that doesn’t matter to a point, because whilst there’s still victims and people who need our help … [there’s a need for] focus and improvement.
“I do accept that there are significant areas of concern … that certainly will require us to look beyond just isolated incidents. There’s been too many consistencies in too many places.”
The inquiry heard inexperience, lack of training and officer burnout were contributing to poor police culture.(AAP: Dan Peled)
However, Assistant Commissioner Codd told the inquiry he did not believe cultural issues were “widespread” or “systemic” within the Queensland Police Service (QPS).
“I’d avoid the term ‘systemic’ because that suggests it’s absolutely through every part of our organization,” he said.
“I guess the observation I’d like to make though is the term about ‘widespread’ or ‘endemic’ that’s tied to it.
“I’m wary that almost every one of the witnesses, or certainly a number [of them,] …also made the point that it wasn’t their experience with every officer.”
He told the inquiry “a range of complex factors” were contributing to issues with police culture, including inexperience, lack of training and officer burnout.
Strangulation cases more than double in five years
Assistant Commissioner Codd also told the inquiry domestic violence strangulation had “progressively increased” from 1,060 reported occurrences in the 2016/2017 financial year to 2,145 in 2022/2023, according to QPS data.
He said domestic violence reports had also climbed from 89,458 in the 2016/2017 financial year to 138,551 in 2022/2023.
The inquiry heard breaches of domestic violence orders (DVOs) were another area of concern, increasing from 25,771 in the 2016/2017 financial year to 46,601 in 2022/2023.
“There’s been a significant increase there but, by the same token, it is perhaps a measure of us being better at identifying them,” he told the inquiry.
