Information for participants
This information is for people taking part in the consultation phase of our review. To find out how to participate or register to take part in our consultation phase, visit our 'How to take part' page.
How will my information be used?
Sharing your experiences with us will help us to identify systemic problems and options to address them within the QPS.
Information you share as part of our consultation phase will help us to:
- gather information about the issues we are looking at, and identify themes
- learn more about experiences of discrimination within the Queensland Police Service and understand the impacts
- hear your suggestions for change, and what positive steps you think Queensland Police Service should take to prevent sexism and racism from happening.
As this review is about systemic issues, we will not inquire into or deal with allegations as a complaint, or make any findings about individual experiences.
Will the information I share be kept confidential?
All information you provide will be treated in confidence. No identifying information will be published or provided to QPS at any stage of the review.
If you participate in a confidential conversation with us, at the start of the session, we will ask whether you would like your information to be used in a way that is either confidential or anonymous.
Confidential
If you give your consent for information you provide to be used confidentially, we might draw upon, quote, or refer to it in a public report or other communications in connection with the review. However, your information will be de-identified and people outside the Commission will not know the information is about you. For example, if we use a quote from you, we will not refer to your real name.
At the end of the review, we will publish a report and recommendations. If we decide to include a de-identified case study from the information you have given us in our public report, we will contact you to ask whether you consent to the use of information in this way.
Anonymous
If you choose to provide your information anonymously, then we may use your information to inform our approach to the review within the Commission, but we will not publish or quote any information you provide.
There may be options to engage with the Commission without providing a name or contact details, for example in an online survey. In those cases, you will still be asked whether you would like the information to be dealt with confidentially (where the information provided can be drawn upon, quoted or referred to in the published report), or anonymously (none of the information provided will be published).
What if I have already made a submission to the Commission of Inquiry?
Any information you provided to the Commission of Inquiry is not available to this review because of the legislation that applies to that public inquiry.
You can share your submission with us – either by itself or with any additional information you think might be relevant – by sending us an email at diversityreview@qhrc.qld.gov.au.
Will complaints or reports of discrimination, sexual harassment and victimisation be investigated?
We won’t inquire into or deal with individual complaints.
If you share your experiences with us, and you also want to lodge a formal complaint with the Commission under the Anti-Discrimination Act or Human Rights Act, you can contact the Commission’s enquiries line on 1300 130 670 or at enquiries@qhrc.qld.gov.au.
Our complaints and dispute resolution team are separate to the team conducting this review.
Why do I need to provide my personal information?
People wanting to take part in the review will be asked for their name and contact details. This is to allow us to communicate with participants about the review and their participation.
Only authorised Commission staff will have access to personal information, which will be stored electronically in secure, locked files.
None of your identifying information will be provided to Queensland Police Service.
What are the limits on confidentiality?
Right to Information Act
People have the right to apply for access to documents from Queensland statutory bodies, including the Commission, under the Right to Information Act 2009.
However, access to information can be refused if it would be contrary to the public interest to release it. This will often, but not always, include the personal information of people other than the applicant (third party personal information).
If an application to access information is made that may capture your personal information, and the Commission is considering releasing the information, we would contact you first to seek your views.
Other
In very limited circumstances, if you disclose possible harm to a person or a criminal offence, we may be obliged to report the matter to the police or another entity.
How will my privacy be managed?
Your privacy is one of our key concerns.
We have established processes in place to ensure only authorised people have access to names and contact details of individuals participating in the review. No identifying details will be published or provided to QPS.
During the review, we will collect, store and manage any personal information you share with us in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld), which includes the Information Privacy Principles, as well as in accordance with the Public Records Act 2002 (Qld).
Further information
If you have questions about this information or the review, please contact our team by email at diversityreview@qhrc.qld.gov.au.
