Chronicling Australian Police Misconduct and Toxic Culture

And advocating for Independent Police Watchdogs Police Commissioners must obey

TOXICPOLICE.COM - A UNIQUE DATABASE OF

AUSTRALIAN POLICE MISCONDUCT

This site catalogues and curates published articles and research about twenty-first century toxic behaviours and misconduct perpetrated by serving Australian police officers.

Toxicpolice.com is the only comprehensive, freely-available database referencing twenty-first century Australian police misconduct.

The site owners acknowledge that the majority of serving police officers are good people who want to make a difference and protect the Australian public.

But, unfortunately, a minority of serving officers are involved in misconduct on duty (and sometime off) and, too often, these behaviours are tolerated by their organisations, tainting the reputations of all officers and creating a toxic environment. This tolerance is driven by the apparent priority frequently given by police commissioners to protecting their organisations' reputation over justice for those wronged by the misconduct.

This is a national phenomenon and one that diminishes the reputation and trust of our police forces in the public eye.

To demonstrate there is a public trust issue, refer to the Australian Government Productivity Commission Report on Government Services (2025) Police Services data tables - download HERE. This official, annual national report evaluates the performance of major public services delivered by Australian federal, state, and territory governments. It uses comparative data and indicators to assess how efficiently, effectively, and equitably these services are delivered, helping inform policy decisions, government accountability, and improvements across the various services.

Some headline interpretations from the Police Services data tables (excludes the Australian Federal Police):

Between two-thirds and three quarters of Australians interviewed believe their police forces perform their job professionally.
In contrast, and notably, only between half and two-thirds of interviewees agree that Australian police treat people fairly and equally and are honest.
New South Wales Police, followed by Victoria Police, ranked least trusted (assigning equal weighting to 'treat people fairly and equally' and 'honest" categories), South Australia and ACT Police the most trusted.
For West Australian Police, only around 51% of interviewees say police treat people fairly and equally, fairing slightly better on police honesty, around 58%.

* These numbers should be a serious concern for police ministers and commissioners *

An image illustrating that Australian Police Commissioners too often ignore evidence that points to a serving officer's misconduct and take no action to address the individual misconduct. They work to protect their organisation's reputation as a priority over seeing justice done.

The articles listed on Toxicpolice.com are all published by respected, professional organisations, including the ABC, Guardian, SBS, official Australian police sites, independent watchdog sites, and so on.

The site covers a wide-range of Australian police misconduct.

Main headings: domestic violence, violence and brutality, homophobia, sexism and sexual misconduct, racism.

Under "Other": causing danger and bodily harm, computer hacking, conflict of interest, corruption, driving offences, drug smuggling / trafficking, fabricating evidence, tampering or destroying evidence, perjury, failure to follow procedure, unlawful declaration, harassment and bullying, hate crimes, inappropriate arrest settings, intimidating defence lawyers, leaking confidential information and misuse of police databases.

Toxicpolice.com supports researchers asking questions like:

How can I identify cases of misconduct in all or or some of the AFP, ACT Police, New South Wales Police Force, Northern Territory Police, Queensland Police Service, South Australia Police, Tasmania Police, Victoria Police or West Australia Police?
How can I identify cases, and get updates, across multiple, or for individual, Australian police jurisdictions, in relation to topics like domestic violence, violence and brutality, homophobia, sexism and sexual misconduct and racism, corruption and so on?
What are the common types of police misconduct reported in Australia?
What are the latest and historical Australian police misconduct cases?
Where can I find articles covering the above topics?

A West Australian Police van parked in a street at night. The image supports toxic.com's focus on toxic behaviours demonstrated by Australian police in the twenty-first century.

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Why does the Toxicpolice site exist?

The authors of this site are law-abiding Australia citizens with professional backgrounds. None has any police record for any offence. Each one, or one or more of their family members, has suffered injustice at the hands of West Australian police officers (WAPOL), primarily violent and disrespectful acts. Each experienced the lengths the police will go to to protect their officers' misconduct, ignoring or whitewashing evidence, prioritising reputation over justice. Each also experienced the inability of the independent police watchdog (WA Corruption and Crime Commission) to force the Police Commissioner to review their numerous decisions not to punish officers' misconduct, despite the evidence.

Following these shared experiences, initial online research revealed that the toxic culture which protects many police officers' misconduct exists in every Australian police jurisdiction. While some officers are punished for misconduct, many complaints end in exoneration or token penalties. For instance, in 2026:

The Victoria state anti-corruption watchdog, IBAC, apologised to a family violence victim for how it handled her complaints about Victoria Police. Commissioner Victoria Elliott has also expressed "deep regret" for how IBAC responded to a special report about the victim's matter in 2022. The victim first reported serious incidents of family violence by her partner, a senior constable, to Victoria Police in 2018. She complained to IBAC after discovering that the police investigation was being conducted by her perpetrator's colleagues, and that officers had leaked her plan to leave the relationship — and escape the abuse — to his colleagues and friends, putting her life and the lives of her children in danger. See HERE.
In New South Wales, victims of domestic violence by serving cops are being let down by poor record-keeping and conflicts of interest, a state’s review of police procedure has found. The NSW police watchdog found ... that mandatory forms for officer-involved domestic and family violence incidents were being filed less than a third of the time, despite the rules being in place since 2018. The review investigated a total of 67 incidents relating to 56 officers in the year to March 2025, during which 17 cops were charged with offences. Only seven have been dismissed by the force while eight were found not guilty, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission found. See HERE.

Across the nation, new cases or updates on police misconduct, across all headings, appear regularly, with limited signs of change. A fundamental flaw is structural: police commissioners are not bound to follow independent watchdog advice regarding prosecutions or disciplinary action. This means police forces largely investigate themselves—the fox policing the hen house—allowing the good to protect the bad and tainting the entire profession.

The prevalence of police misconduct also raises questions about the recruitment processes our police employ. How do individuals with racist, misogynous, violent, homophobic etc, traits meet police recruitment standards?

Toxicpolice.com advocates for reform of the current police misconduct management processes.

Progress toward reform has been minimal this century. Change will only come when the public and politicians fully grasps the scale of the problem and when political leaders show courage to act. The ideal outcome: the eradication of police misconduct and introduction of state laws requiring commissioners to follow independent watchdog directions on officer discipline.

CONTACT: Signal app username Jackarz.47

This month's new articles - April 2026

Domestic Violence

NSW POLICE: MOST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE-CHARGED POLICE REMAIN IN THE JOB - 2026 NEW SOUTH WALES
TASMANIA POLICE SERGEANT USED DISPATCH SYSTEM IN 'RELENTLESS' MONITORING OF WIFE IN FAMILY VIOLENCE MATTER - 2026 TASMANIA
RAPE INVESTIGATION RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW TASMANIA POLICE HANDLES FAMILY VIOLENCE BY SERVING OFFICERS - 2026 TASMANIA
FINAL DAY OF INQUEST INTO DEATH OF TOKO-HARIETA MAKI HEARS FROM TOP POLICE, CHILD SAFETY REPRESENTATIVES - 2026 NORTHERN TERRITORY

Violence

VIDEO OF POLICE OFFICER RESTRAINING 13YO GIRL ON PERTH TRAIN SPARKS EXCESSIVE FORCE PROBE - 2026 WESTERN AUSTRALIA
POLICE INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY AFTER OFFICER PUSHES INDIGENOUS WOMAN TO THE GROUND DURING ARREST IN
BROOME - 2026 WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Homophobia

Sexism & Sexual Misconduct

Racism

WA POLICE STANDS BY MODERATION STRATEGY DESPITE RACIST COMMENTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS - 2026 WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Other

QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE TO TEST ALL GLOCK HANDGUNS ISSUED TO OFFICERS AFTER FAULT IDENTIFIED - 2026 QUEENSLAND
'I HAVE NOT TASTED THE GIN': FORMER POLICE COMMISSIONER CLEARED OF MISCONDUCT OVER GIFTS SCANDAL - 2026 NEW SOUTH WALES
POLICE NAB THREE FOR ABUSE OF OFFICE, FRAUD - 2026 SOUTH AUSTRALIA
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN COP IN CHARGE OF ROAD SAFETY FINED OVER BIKE SELFIE - 2026 SOUTH AUSTRALIA
SISTER OF NEAL THOMSON TO SUE VICTORIA POLICE OVER HIS FATAL SHOOTING BY DEZI FREEMAN - 2026 VICTORIA
NEW SOUTH POLICE CAUGHT MONITORING PHONES AND COMPUTERS - 2026 NEW SOUTH WALES
ARE WHISTLEBLOWER COPS PUNISHED FOR SPEAKING OUT? - 2026 NATIONAL

Observations

SENIOR SA POLICE OFFICER UNDER INVESTIGATION OVER MISCONDUCT ALLEGATION, ICAC SAYS - 2026 SOUTH AUSTRALIA
TRANSIT OFFICERS ON DARWIN'S 'DANGEROUS' BUS NETWORK WILL SOON BE ARMED WITH GUNS - 2026 NORTHERN TERRITORY
CORONER HEARS OF POLICE FAILINGS FOLLOWING 1976 DISAPPEARANCE OF VERONICA GREEN - 2026 VICTORIA*
CALLS FOR AFP TO 'EXPLAIN' NEED TO ARREST BEN ROBERTS-SMITH AT SYDNEY AIRPORT - 2026 AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE
POLICE MINISTER YASMIN CATLEY HITS BACK AT FAIRFIELD MAYOR'S ALLEGATION POLICE NOT BEING DEPLOYED IN WESTERN SYDNEY - 2026 NEW SOUTH WALES
'SIGNIFICANT FAILURES' IN POLICE PROBE OF MAN'S DEATH - 2026 VICTORIA
BOARDROOM SCREAMING MATCH ENDS WITH COPS STORMING OUT [WA POLICE UNION STORY] - 2026 WESTERN AUSTRALIA
LAST CHANCE FOR ANSWERS IN NANNUP FOUR COLD CASE AS POLICE ADMIT SEARCH ERROR - 2026 WESTERN AUSTRALIA
SUPPORT SERVICES NATIONWIDE 'BUCKLING UNDER DEMAND' DURING SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH - 2026 NATIONAL

Email to WA Police Minister April 2026

26/4/2026

Minister Whitby, I wrote to you last November, per email below, and am yet to receive a reply. I would like one.

In addition, I request your response to the following matter: earlier this year, the federal government published its annual Productivity Commission Report on Government Services (2025). The section relating to police service provides data on surveyed public perceptions of Australian police jurisdictions ( HERE Table 6A.9). For WAPOL, the survey results show:

69.4 % (+/- 3.0%) believe 'police perform job professionally'
51.3% (+/- 3.1%) believe 'police treat people fairly and equally'
58.3% (+ / -) believe 'police are honest'

In short, around 30% of West Australian don't support the first proposition, nearly half don't support the second and over 40% don't support the third.

These are concerning results. What do you plan to do about this? This correspondence is published at www.toxicpolice.com , a site visited by hundreds of Australians monthly, as well as international visitors. I await your reply to publish it, for full transparency.

Sent: Sunday, 16 November 2025 6:09 PM
To: Minister.Whitby@dpc.wa.gov.au <Minister.Whitby@dpc.wa.gov.au>
Subject: Time to make WA Police Commissioner answerable to the CCC

Dear Minister, there is longstanding evidence that across all state police jurisdictions, WA included, police commissioners ignore the independent watchdog recommendations in relation to charging and disciplining officers for misconduct. This is well-documented at www.toxicpolice.com , including a recent WA case where an off-duty officer was videoed attacking another driver in a road rage incident. Despite CCC recommendation, Col Blanch declined to take action with absolutely no justification. WA Police cannot expect public trust when they arrogantly act as if above the law with impunity, nor does it reflect well on you as police minister.

When are you going to make WAPOL answerable to the CCC so that public funding of the latter delivers consistently just outcomes and value for money?

Home: Meet The Team

A Police decal supporting toxicpolice.com's coverage of Australian police misconduct and toxic behaviours.

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WAPOL officers in Fremantle leaving a man sleep on the pavement. Supports www,toxicpolice.com in exposing Australian Police toxic culture and misconduct

WAPOL officers hard at work at the Fremantle Bistro cafe.

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Chronicling Australian Police Misconduct and Toxic Culture And advocating for Independent Police Watchdogs Police Commissioners must obey

TOXICPOLICE.COM - A UNIQUE DATABASE OF

AUSTRALIAN POLICE MISCONDUCT

Toxicpolice.com is the only comprehensive, freely-available database referencing twenty-first century Australian police misconduct.

The site owners acknowledge that the majority of serving police officers are good people who want to make a difference and protect the Australian public.

This is a national phenomenon and one that diminishes the reputation and trust of our police forces in the public eye.

In contrast, and notably, only between half and two-thirds of interviewees agree that Australian police treat people fairly and equally and are honest​.

New South Wales Police, followed by Victoria Police, ranked least trusted (assigning equal weighting to 'treat people fairly and equally' and 'honest" categories), South Australia and ACT Police the most trusted.

​

The articles listed on Toxicpolice.com are all published by respected, professional organisations, including the ABC, Guardian, SBS, official Australian police sites, independent watchdog sites, and so on.

The site covers a wide-range of Australian police misconduct.

Main headings: domestic violence, violence and brutality, homophobia, sexism and sexual misconduct, racism.

Toxicpolice.com supports researchers asking questions like:

How can I identify cases of misconduct in all or or some of the AFP, ACT Police, New South Wales Police Force, Northern Territory Police, Queensland Police Service, South Australia Police, Tasmania Police, Victoria Police or West Australia Police?

How can I identify cases, and get updates, across multiple, or for individual, Australian police jurisdictions, in relation to topics like domestic violence, violence and brutality, homophobia, sexism and sexual misconduct and racism, corruption and so on?

What are the common types of police misconduct reported in Australia?

What are the latest and historical Australian police misconduct cases?

Where can I find articles covering the above topics?

Why does the Toxicpolice site exist?

The prevalence of police misconduct also raises questions about the recruitment processes our police employ. How do individuals with racist, misogynous, violent, homophobic etc, traits meet police recruitment standards?

Toxicpolice.com advocates for reform of the current police misconduct management processes.

​

Chronicling Australian Police Misconduct and Toxic Culture

And advocating for Independent Police Watchdogs Police Commissioners must obey

In contrast, and notably, only between half and two-thirds of interviewees agree that Australian police treat people fairly and equally and are honest.