Oceania

FEATURE: New research undertaken by the Australian Institute of Criminology on behalf of the Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner is highlighting the need for improved co-operation between federal, state and territory law enforcement to help tackle modern slavery, as well as more specialist training and easier access to justice for victims, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

INTERVIEW: Cop Care, a new support system for serving and retired officers in Queensland, will soon launch with AU$5.5million funding from the State Government and run by the Queensland Police Union; Cop Care CEO Dr Jackie Drew spoke to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons about the importance of the initiative’s independence from Queensland Police Service, the need for evidence-based support, and the collaboration with the existing Copline service operating in Canada and the US.

FEATURE: New research carried out among more than 1,500 mid-level police leaders and frontline officers in Australia suggests that while many of the leadership cohort have experienced the same level of traumatic experiences and operational burnout as the officers they are managing, they are also dealing with greater levels of organisational stress and demand without the support programmes that are now in place for their frontline colleagues, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

FEATURE: New research by Monash University into the routine arming of officers highlights that the view that “more guns on belts inevitably lead to more people being shot” is not borne out by the evidence – with officer-involved shootings actually falling in some instances – provided that the move to the mandatory carrying of firearms is accompanied by a suitable transition period, the right training, and effective de-escalation protocols, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Team Wendy injects world-leading traumatic brain injury research into world-class head protection systems for law enforcement teams in the line of fire.

FEATURE: As police forces in many parts of the world struggle with workforce attrition and difficulties around officer recruitment and retention, a new study by Liverpool John Moores University and Western Sydney University highlights the potential for policing to leverage the potential of anonymous online workplace reviews to better identify factors that have driven officers to leave law enforcement, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: Sextortion is a form of image-based abuse that is increasing around the world, with greater access to easy-to-use AI tools exacerbating the problem; new research by RMIT University Professor Nicola Henry, PhD candidate Alana Ray, and criminologist and Research Assistant Gemma Stevens reveals not only the scale of offending, but also the steps that need to be taken – including new laws and regulations, prevention education and improved police responses – to address a complex challenge.

ANALYSIS: New South Wales (NSW) Police is facing a $1.75 billion psychological injury bill and a co-responder mental health programme known as PACER that operates in only 12 of 57 area commands almost a decade after its first pilot within the force; strategy and reform consultant Kavitha Vipulananda compares the police approach in NSW with co-responder models in other Australian states and asks what it would take to scale a programme that works.

FEATURE: Police forces across Australia and New Zealand are being urged to share data, innovations and best practice in the fight against child sexual abuse, to improve outcomes for victims, prioritise prevention and increase support for the workforce, as part of a new strategy unveiled by the Australia New Zealand Police Advisory Agency, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: A recently published Performance Improvement Review of New Zealand Police warns that an integrity reset is “urgently needed” within the service and is a “mission-critical challenge”, while concerns over “tribalism” – particularly at senior levels – as well as skills and training gaps, “underpowered and undervalued” corporate foundations, and the increasingly complex digital and transnational crime threats are all highlighted in the review, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

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OPINION: Domestic violence is widely acknowledged to be under-reported, but research by Australian Catholic University PhD Researcher Farjana Mahbuba highlights a significant problem of deep reluctance to contact the police among migrant women in Australia, where language barriers, fear of police, threats from partners, and issues around shame and stigma leave many victims of domestic and family violence suffering in silence.

FEATURE: A report from the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency exploring the ‘megatrends’ facing policing over the next five years and beyond is warning that as demand for policing becomes increasingly fragmented and shaped by external forces, law enforcement agencies will need to limit the expansion of their roles for the benefit of both the public and the workforce, while also addressing skills gaps and improving community collaboration, reports Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: A new study by researchers at Melbourne’s RMIT University, based on interviews with victim-survivors of sexual violence, has called for an independent, alternative investigative support service, training to improve officers’ interpersonal skills, and upgrades to rooms and facilities, after interviewees shared experiences of dismissive and victim-blaming officers, “disgusting” and “intimidating” interview rooms, and having to collate evidence related to the offence themselves, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

King's Birthday Honours: We are pleased to publish and recognise Australian policing recipients of the 2026 King's Birthday Honours. The team at Policing Insight offer our congratulations and thank them for their service.

OPINION: With growing concerns in many countries about the online radicalisation of young people, Dr Soumya Awasthi, a fellow of the Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology at the Observer Research Foundation, and Dr Fitriani, a senior analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Cyber Technology and Security Program, believe that Australia and India could learn much by sharing their country’s experiences.

King's Birthday Honours: We are pleased to publish and recognise New Zealand policing recipients of the 2026 King's Birthday Honours. The team at Policing Insight offer our congratulations to Inspectors Ross Grantham and Neru Leifi and thank them for their service.

FEATURE: A study into building procedural justice in street-level drug law enforcement in Australia suggests that the decriminalisation of drug use and possession offences, expanding harm reduction approaches, and giving all alleged offenders the chance to tell their side of the story, could help to build positive interactions between officers and people who use drugs, as well as increasing the willingness of users to co-operate with police and abide by the law, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: The ongoing legal proceedings against Queensland Police Service by an Indian Uber driver is the latest case to highlight a culture of racism and lack of accountability in this and other Australian forces, says strategy and reform consultant Kavitha Vipulananda, who argues that for policing in the country to earn the trust of the communities it serves – including growing and diverse migrant and Indigenous communities – “the cycle of incident, apology and impunity must be broken”.

OPINION: A new bill currently progressing through the New Zealand Parliament will make sexualised deepfakes a crime; Dr Cassandra Mudgway, Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Canterbury, believes that while criminalisation is to be welcomed and brings New Zealand into line with other countries including the UK and Australia, tackling the issue effectively will require regulation of the technology industry.

OPINION: Youth offending in Victoria is rising, burglary is at record levels, and retail theft is the fastest-growing crime category, yet the prevailing response remains largely reactive; evidence from Victoria’s own prevention programs shows that upstream investment in youth justice produces measurable reductions in offending, says strategy and reform consultant Kavitha Vipulananda – the harder question is whether the structural conditions exist to deliver it at scale.

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Ahead of next month’s SAS webinar on trusted AI for policing, Policing Insight spoke with former long-serving Queensland Police officer John Kilburn about the real impact of AI in law enforcement. The discussion highlights the opportunities AI presents, and the critical need for agencies to be clear about their objectives; it also reinforces that the true value of AI is only realised when underpinned by strong governance, defined guardrails, and complete transparency, building trust within both the police workforce and the communities they serve.

OPINION: A decade after forced marriage was first criminalised and more than 30 years after state-level hate crime legislation was introduced, rates of prosecution in Australia remain low compared to the UK; strategy and reform consultant Kavitha Vipulananda explores the differences in approach between the two jurisdictions, and suggests four steps Australia could take to improve outcomes for victim-survivors of both offences.

ANALYSIS: As global policing enters a new data-driven era, questions continue over how the new technology is perceived by the public; a new study by Dr Javad Pool, Professor Marta Indulska, Associate Professor Ida Asadi, and Professor Shazia Sadiq of The University of Queensland, and Queensland Police Service Data Services Manager Nick Moss, suggests that while most of the community accept the use of data-driven and AI-assisted tools in policing, far fewer trust the technology.