Published on Monday, 02 March 2026

IBAC apology must pave the way for stronger police oversight

The circumstances surrounding today’s apology by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission to Melbourne woman Jana Katerinskaja raise serious concerns about IBAC’s capacity to investigate police misconduct.

Dr Katerinskaja’s case was repeatedly mishandled by IBAC for the better part of a decade, exposing flaws in the commission’s approach to police complaints that must result in an overhaul of the current system, says Inner Melbourne Community Legal, which operates the Police Accountability Project.

Dr Katerinskaja’s complaint about the handling of family violence offences by her ex-partner, a serving police officer, should never have been referred back to police for investigation in the first place.

This put both Dr Katerinskaja and her children at risk of further violence and created conflicts of interest that reduced the prospects of a thorough and independent investigation.

IBAC has now publicly apologised to Dr Katerinskaja both for the mishandling of her complaint, and for its own response to a subsequent inquiry into the case by the Integrity Oversight Victoria, including misleading and inappropriate statements made under Parliamentary privilege.

Fewer than two per cent of police misconduct complaints that are made to IBAC are investigated by the commission itself, with the rest referred to Victoria Police to investigate themselves.

IBAC fails to investigate more than 98% of police misconduct complaints because it wears two hats - dealing with police misconduct and also preventing and exposing public sector corruption.

Under section 15 of the IBAC Act, the commission is required to prioritise resources to investigate corruption over police misconduct complaints, even where referring a complaint back to Victoria Police to deal with could result in significant risk or actual harm to a complainant.

Victoria has seen an exponential increase in police powers in last decade. This requires a commensurate increase of police oversight capacity and stand-alone legislation to allow for the independent investigation of police to ensure these powers are used correctly.

The only solution is for the government to provide IBAC with separate police oversight legislation, adopt recommendations from the 2025 report of Parliament’s Integrity and Oversight Committee and:

•  Rewrite Section 15 of the IBAC Act give investigations of serious police misconduct the same level of priority as public sector corruption.
•  Amend the definition of police misconduct in the IBAC Act so it reflects community expectations.
•  Amend the IBAC Act to prohibit IBAC from referring complaints of police misconduct to Victoria Police to investigate, other than in defined circumstances.
•  Establish a dedicated and fully-resourced Police Corruption and Misconduct Division in IBAC to increase public confidence about how complaints are handled.
•  Require IBAC to disclose to complainants -

°  the reasons for a referral of their complaint back to Victoria Police,
°  complaint progress updates, and
°  the outcomes of file reviews - inclusive of IBAC’s recommendations and reasons for review outcomes.

•  The de-identified public reporting of IBAC’s recommendations to improve the transparency of IBAC’s police oversight function and improve public confidence.

These reforms will not alleviate the harm incurred by Dr Katerinskaja from the mishandling of her case but would ensure that future complainants do not have to go through the same experience that she did.

Quotes attributable to Inner Melbourne Community Legal Director of Policy and Advocacy Michelle Reynolds:

“Jana Katerinskaja has shown incredible courage in her pursuit of justice over so many years and Inner Melbourne Community Legal is proud to stand alongside her.

“The failure of IBAC to investigate her complaint and instead refer it back to Victoria Police added to the harm and trauma she had already suffered from the violence inflicted by her ex-partner.

“This was exacerbated by IBAC’s refusal for so long to admit its mistakes.

“The lesson from this episode is that IBAC as it is currently constituted is not equipped to properly provide oversight of Victoria Police conduct and to investigate allegations of misconduct.

“IBAC is currently set up to prevent and expose public sector corruption with police conduct effectively relegated to an afterthought.

“The result is that less than 2% of complaints about police are actually investigated IBAC with the majority referred back to police.

“This is more than a simple resourcing issue.

“For the community to have confidence in the police, the oversight and investigation powers cannot be left to police. IBAC must have greater accountability and transparency to ensure victims of police harm have their matters properly investigated in a trauma-informed way, as already recommended by Parliament’s Integrity and Oversight Committee.

“It is time for a fully-resourced, independent and dedicated Police Corruption and Misconduct Division in IBAC, and for serious police misconduct to be treated with the same priority as public sector corruption.”