Reforming police oversight in Victoria: lessons from Northern Ireland

This article focuses on the system of civilian oversight of police misconduct and corruption in Victoria and the prospects for reform. It considers the 2018 report and recommendations of a parliamentary 'Inquiry into the external oversight of police corruption and misconduct in Victoria' by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) Committee, along with the cases and scandals that fuel calls for reforms to the current system. It compares the extant hybrid model of civilian review and investigation between police and IBAC in Victoria with the civilian control model in Northern Ireland where investigations of police misconduct and corruption are undertaken exclusively by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI). It reflects on the current social and political factors in Victoria which might support or undermine reform in the context of lessons from Northern Ireland, where policing and police oversight underwent extensive reform at the turn of the millennium.