CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses family violence, sexual violence, and child sexual offences.
A startling new report has revealed hundreds of Victoria Police officers were under investigation in the last five years over alleged sexual and family violence.
According to figures released by the force following a Freedom of Information request by the Herald Sun, more than 680 officers were investigated by the Victoria Police’s own Sexual Offences and Family Violence Unit (SOFVU) between January 2019 and June 2024.
This roughly translates to around 135 investigations a year or some three per cent of the 22,000 person workforce.
Looking further into the numbers, the document revealed around 90 of the 683 members have been scrutinised over severe family violence allegations.
However, with the SOFVU only handling the most serious allegations, this figure could sit much higher as dozens more family violence cases are understood to have been investigated by local branches.
Some 269 of the investigations — or roughly 40 per cent of the cases — explored claims of alleged predatory behaviour, sexual harassment or inappropriate comments.
Furthermore, 185 of the probes — nearly a third of the cases — were related to alleged sexual assault or child sexual offences, including rape, sexual assault and crimes against children.
Concerningly, the behaviours are alleged to have occurred both on and off duty.
Speaking to ABC Radio, Victoria Police chief commissioner Shane Patton confirmed the majority of those investigated by the internal team were uniformed officers.
“To me, a number like that is high. Anything more than one is high,” he said.
Also commenting on the figures, a Victoria Police spokesman told the Herald Sun the force would investigate complaints regardless of an employee’s rank or position, as evidenced by the number of investigations undertaken.
“No one in Victoria Police is above the law,” he said.
“The authority and responsibility entrusted in our employees means they should be rightly held to a higher standard than the rest of the community both on and off duty.
“The community should have confidence we will not hesitate in taking action against sexual and family violence offending within our organisation.”
Chief commissioner Patton added: “When you say you’ve got between 130 and 140 employees you’re investigating on a yearly basis, yes, that’s a significant concern.
“We have moved a long way. We’ve still got offending occurring, don’t get me wrong on that, but we are doing everything we can because we realise this type of offending, it’s abhorrent offending.”
According to recent figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, recorded sexual assaults hit a 31-year high in 2023 at 36,318 victim-survivors.
It marked an 11 per cent increase from the year prior and in more grim news, the 12th straight annual rise.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare also found over one in five women and one in 16 men have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.
Lead image source: Victoria Police / Instagram
Help is available.
If you require immediate assistance, please call 000.
If you’d like to speak to someone about sexual violence, please call the 1800 Respect hotline on 1800 737 732 or chat online.
Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
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