The peak Indigenous legal service in New South Wales has stated the findings from a new report reveal the NSW Police are "rarely being held to account over allegations of misconduct".
Last week, the independent police watchdog, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC), published a report in which it found only seven out of 245 complaints about NSW Police made between 1 January 2021 and 30 June 2022 were directly investigated by the Commission.
66 (27 per cent) in total were investigated, with the LECC investigating seven directly and monitoring the NSW Police Force's investigation of three.
On Monday, the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) NSW/ACT said the "vast majority" of complaints were investigated by police themselves.
"The most common complaint was over police use of force," ALS said.
The LECC said last week that it undertook the work to "increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's knowledge, access and capability to use available data and information to set priorities and drive their own development and is in line with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap Priority Reform 4".
In total, only 26 allegations were sustained, with the LECC reviewing the NSW Police Force's triage of the complaints and finding it was "satisfied with the police's decision in 234 complaints".
13 of the complaints were retained for information "only because the complainant did not consent to refer the complaint to the NSW Police Force for investigation and it did not meet our threshold for investigation", the LECC said.
ALS' Principal Solicitor (Justice Projects, Policy & Practice) Lauren Stefanou said the organisation welcomed the LECC's "commitment to transparency" in releasing the data, but said the organisation was "deeply concerned by what the data shows about police accountability mechanisms and how they are letting down Aboriginal people in NSW".
"Robust and independent police oversight is critical to a functioning system. It's also an important pathway towards repairing community-police relationships and Closing the Gap," Ms Stefanou said.
It was revealed police only upheld 18 per cent of the allegations made by Aboriginal people, with the recommended consequences ranging from counselling, to warning notices and disciplinary transfers.
No instances were recorded of police being relieved of their duties after a complaint was sustained against them, the ALS said.
"The fact that so few police officers who have committed misconduct face consequences for their actions is a deterrent to making complaints," Ms Stefanou said.
"Police have a critical role to play in Closing the Gap and there must be stronger accountability for police who misuse their powers."
Earlier this year, National Indigenous Times revealed a NSW police officer found guilty of assaulting an Indigenous teenager was still employed by the NSW police, even after being sentenced.
NSW Police have launched an internal review after an Aboriginal man's conviction for resisting arrest was overturned, with video footage revealing he was repeatedly struck by police despite "posing no harm or threat".
ALS argued that "Aboriginal people, especially children and young people, are grossly overrepresented as targets of punitive police powers like strip searches and excessive use of force".
"The fact that so few complaints were received from or on behalf of Aboriginal people over 18 months shows that the complaints system must be made more accessible for Aboriginal communities," ALS said.
The ALS said they welcomed the LECC's announcement that the report would be a starting point for dialogue with Aboriginal community-controlled organisations (ACCOs) about areas to improve the watchdog's use of data and collection of information about Indigenous people.
