Sexual offence investigations sidelined by property crime, report finds

Queensland detectives are having to prioritise investigating property crime over rape, with more than half of reported sexual offences withdrawn or unsolved, according to a new study.

More than 19,000 sexual offences reported to Queensland Police Service (QPS) between 2017 and 2022 were analysed to find out why so many were withdrawn, or labelled unfounded.

Of those reports a third were withdrawn, a fifth were unsolved and about one in 10 were considered unsubstantiated, the Australian Institute of Criminology study found.

Investigators told researchers organisational and political priorities like youth and property crime were being prioritised above sexual offences, as officers juggled crimes from fraud to petty theft.

"We have to prioritise certain non-sexual offences even though we might have a more serious offence ... it’s very political," one said.

An investigator said officers' time was being co-opted by less serious crime.

"The serious jobs like sexual assault, they’re life changing, life ruining stuff. And they’re not getting any attention at all because some kid walked into a bottle shop and stole a bottle of vodka, and we end up dealing with that instead."

Another told researchers, "the biggest problem for rape complaints is property crime".

"We find ourselves wrapped in that for two, three, four weeks, then days off, then DV training, or some other thing, and we go, 'Hang on, this poor person, we haven't done anything with their complaint for six months'," they said.

Historic offences on 'backburner'

Historic sexual offences were "put on the backburner" because of unmanageable workloads, according to investigators.

Too few officers had sexual offence training, and sexual assault investigation kits were often difficult to access, with some survivors having to travel and wait for hours — only to find there was no-one to carry them out or being told to do their own swabs, they said.

According to QPS data, only about a fifth of reports involved investigators with sexual offence training, and a sexual assault investigation kit was performed in fewer than 15 per cent.

More than two-thirds of survivors were not referred to victim support services.

Meanwhile survivors who were given a sexual assault investigation kit or who dealt with sexual offence trained officers were less likely to withdraw their reports, and their complaints were also less likely to be considered unsubstantiated, the study found.

Victims feel 'de-prioritised'

Queensland Sexual Assault Network chief executive Angela Lynch said the findings were "shocking" but unsurprising.

"Victim-survivors really feel de-prioritised in the system, and obviously that's what that report is showing," she said.

In 2024, 40,087 survivors made reports to Australian police, the highest number recorded in 32 years, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows.

One of the largest increases was in Queensland.

Ms Lynch said sexual violence offences need to take a higher priority.

"The whole system has to be better resourced," she said.

"Obviously police are calling for better resourcing, but to support the police and to support victim survivors that come forward, you would also have to, as a matter of priority, increase resourcing for specialist sexual violence services."

Researchers made five recommendations — for more trained officers, embedded assault service workers in police stations, and a "one-stop shop" with police, prosecutors and health services.

They also recommended training for all physicians in every health and hospital service to carry out forensic medical examinations.