Deputy Commissioner for regional Queensland Paul Taylor has acknowledged there are gaps in the cultural awareness training provided to new police recruits.
An inquiry into Queensland Police Service’s response to domestic violence continued Thursday in Townsville, after spending two days hearing submissions in Cairns earlier in the week.
Deputy Commissioner Taylor said the police “need to do a lot better” in developing cultural awareness training that is specific to each of the different rural and remote regions.
"It's an ongoing body of work," he said.
"It's not something that we don't acknowledge and are not aware of, it's about 'How do we get it right?'"
Work is underway in Queensland Police, with assistance from the First Nations affairs unit, in developing and updating their existing cultural awareness training packages.
"There's no reason why police handover should not be a lot more comprehensive around issues around domestic violence," he said.
"And particularly risks around vulnerability and the risks around perpetrators - there's no doubt that that could be a lot better."
Deputy Commissioner Taylor said input from First Nations communities needs to be a priority in its development.
Deputy Commissioner for regional Queensland Paul Taylor standing alongside two constables.
"It needs to have the local content and it needs to be an accepted package by the broader community.
"One of the challenges we've had is getting consistent agreement... as to what the package should do."
He also suggested an element of the training being an engagement component, where the new recruits are required to engage with the community upon arrival in rural and remote regions.
"I think the induction should include them exposing themselves as to who and what they are," he said.
"You can’t ask someone to explain their life experience and not [do it] yourself."
"I'm a strong believer that to get that trust there has to be an opening up … so that people understand who you are as well – I think that's important."
Deputy Commissioner Taylor also addressed the issue surrounding the little knowledge given to new recruits on how to handle the different domestic violence call outs.
"It needs to be improved on greatly," he said.
"There needs to be, particularly with younger police that haven't experienced that before, a really good understanding of victims' vulnerability and their disposition because of circumstances.
"I don't think that's well understood by young police in particular."
The court also heard from Constable Zak Holliday who shared his experiences after a year of policing.
He said at the Townsville Academy he attended, soon-to-be officers were warned about the high rates of domestic violence call outs they could expect to attend, while in his statement he outlined he was not prepared enough for domestic and family violence situations.
"[Officers at the academy] told us that most of the calls for service would be domestic violence so that kind of put it in our head that - be prepared for it."
Friday's probe will again take place in Townsville where the court will hear from four witnesses who will share their observations and experiences of QPS investigations of domestic and family violence matters.
