More Action Demanded from New South Wales Police Over Homophobic Violence

Filed Under Crime, Hate Crimes, Homophobia, Police Beat | January 12th, 2008 

NSW Police Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officer signAustralia, Surry Hills, NSW — New South Wales’ leading gay and lesbian health agency is set to make a detailed submission to the NSW Ombudsman over a lack of action from police against homophobic violence in the Oxford St precinct.

The move is part of a new four-part strategy launched by ACON following a shocking attack on a young gay man last month which local police appear to have not fully investigated at the time.

The key element of the new strategy involves submitting evidence of police inaction to the Ombudsman so the response of Surry Hills police to homophobic violence can be examined by an independent authority. The strategy also involves encouraging community members to write to the Police Commissioner expressing their concerns, to report incidents of abuse, harassment and assault to ACON’s Anti-Violence Project, and to contribute new ideas for preventing and addressing homophobic violence.

Despite advocating for years for more police action over increasing levels of homophobic violence in and around Oxford St, ACON CEO Stevie Clayton says the police response has not improved. “We’ve worked closely with Surry Hills police, particularly over the last 12 months, to try and address this problem,” she says. “We’ve trained police about dealing with homophobic violence, we’ve helped develop the Oxford St Safety Strategy, we’ve set-up systems to share intelligence and we’ve continually called for more resources.

“Despite these efforts, the violence continues to escalate and the police response is not keeping pace with it. Like the rest of our community, we feel that enough is enough. That’s why we’re now taking the matter to the Ombudsman so we can get an independent assessment of the problem and finally put an end to the inaction and buck passing.”

Ms Clayton says part of the problem is that Surry Hills police claim that their data does not support ACON’s claims of increasing violence. “However, police at Surry Hills do not encourage people from reporting homophobic violence as a hate crime and they sometimes fail to properly record such incidents as hate crime. You only have to go out on Oxford Street on a Friday or Saturday night to know that no one is safe there anymore.

“To his credit, the Police Minister, David Campbell, did take our issues seriously and organised a roundtable with police and community organisations to talk through the issues and agree on a way forward. Many issues were discussed and agreement reached on collaborative work. But some weeks later, nothing has changed – except that the violence continues to get worse.”

To ensure the submission to the Ombudsman is as detailed as possible, ACON is encouraging anyone who has had unsatisfactory dealings with the Surry Hills police or who were victims or witnesses of homophobic violence in the Oxford St area over the last six months to report it to the AVP by calling (02) 9206 2116 or emailing avp@acon.org.au.

If people experience homophobic abuse or violence, they should call 000. Otherwise they should call the NSW Police Switchboard on 9281 0000 and ask for a Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officer. Alternatively, they can contact the Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project on 9206 2116 or 1800 063 060 to get support, referral information or to make a report.

They can also report online at www.avp.acon.org.au

Source: ACON – AIDS Council of New South Wales

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