QIFVLS’ Board and staff from across the state gathered over two incredible days in April for our annual All-Staff event, held at the Novotel in Cairns. This year’s event had special significance, with QIFVLS marking its 15 Year Anniversary as a combined Queensland-strong organisation. The 2025 All-Staff event was an amazing mix of cultural experiences, high-level planning announcements, reflection, sharing and laughter.
The two day All-Staff event was opened with a smoking ceremony led by Yidinji Elder Henry Fourmile, followed by a performance from Minjil, an Indigenous cultural group connecting people from all backgrounds with country, culture and age-old traditions through dance, lore and education.
The main proceedings for day one started with a panel discussion by the QIFVLS Board, beginning with a short video to mark the organisation’s 15 Year Anniversary. The video paid tribute to the many women and men who have applied themselves with professionalism and commitment over the years to improve the lives of so many in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Queensland.
In turn, each of the Board Members spoke, delivering recollections and insights, and offering their own vision for QIFVLS’ future.
MC for the event was Talicia Minniecon, a NO2DV Ambassador and active champion of First Nations women in the community. Talicia proved herself to be an exceptional choice for the role, introducing speakers and moving the program along with humour, enthusiasm, respect and efficiency. Great job Talicia!
The room enjoyed presentations from all of QIFVLS’ Queensland offices, each beginning with a video created by the team which perfectly captured their personalities and characters. The laughter in the room from the videos belied the serious nature of their work and the office’s case studies were a powerful reminder of what an important role QIFVLS plays in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities.
Wayne Grant, Senior Community Engagement Officer, Yirmba First Nations Unit, Queensland Human Rights Commission delivered a memorable key note address on the subject of human rights.
There were also valuable from presentations from the team at The Office of Public Guardian, including Tanya Geddes, Regional Visiting Manager for Community Visitors, Tegan Williams, Child Advocate, Katherine Johnson and Kelly Stone, Guardianship Legal Officers.
At the conclusion of day one, the team had the opportunity to enjoy a traditional Aboriginal cultural experience at the Rainforestation Nature Park in the Kuranda rainforest, a thirty minute bus ride from Cairns.
The Pamagirri Aboriginal Experience at the Rainforestation Nature Park is a major attraction in the region, and the team had the chance to relax as tourists for the hour-long show that included a cultural dance show and demonstrations of traditional hunting skills.
Participation was encouraged, with the QIFVLS crew showing off their traditional dance skills and boomerang throwing prowess.
A highlight at the end of the first day was the awards presentation. With so much skill, hard work and commitment shown throughout the year selecting the award recipients was challenging but a staff poll delivered this selection of deserving winners for 2025.
Day two of the All-Staff event featured an introduction to the next exciting evolution of QIFVLS’ organisational structure. PLO Thelma Schwartz, SDPLO Aaron Luki and DPLO’s Isabella Copetti and Brandon Begley took to the podium to outline this evolution, which will include many opportunities for staff growth and professional development throughout our organisation.
The theme of positive evolution was explored further during the afternoon of day two, with Board Member Christine Thomas leading the group in a yarning circle.
The 2025 All-Staff event ended with a choice of fun activities, with staff given the option to visit the Cairns Aquarium or take on the challenge of the Escape Room.
With QIFVLS working at the sharp end of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social inequality, with its attendant trauma and as a breeding ground for domestic violence, the latest Closing the Gap data from the Productivity Commission is deeply concerning.
The Productivity Commission says governments are shirking “meaningful action” as new data reveals soaring rates of Indigenous imprisonment and ongoing failures to reduce rates of suicides and children in out-of-home care.
Productivity Commissioner and Gungarri man Selwyn Button described the continuation of a business-as-usual approach by governments at all levels as being the “definition of insanity”.
The commission’s latest data shows a 15 per cent spike in imprisonment of Indigenous adults in just one year, between 2023 and 2024.
Rates of suicide, child removals and early childhood development are still worsening for First Nations people since the baseline year of 2018/19.
Kulumba Kiyingi, QIFVLS’ Senior Policy Officer commented “Our frontline staff consistently witness the interconnectedness between family violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and the child protection system, the youth justice system, adult criminal justice system, homelessness, health and the family law system – which is why meeting all of the Closing the Gap targets is absolutely imperative for progress”
Overall, only four of the 19 targets are currently on track to be met nationally by their deadline: early childhood education, employment, land rights and sea rights.
That’s a drop from last year when five targets were on track, with the target to increase the rate of babies born at a healthy weight no longer looking likely to be met. Federal, state, territory and local governments, along with the Coalition of Peaks, are jointly accountable for the outcomes under the National Agreements.
Mr Button said little improvement can be expected without processes to hold parties to account for their work.
“None of them exist at the moment. Unless we have an independent mechanism in place at a national level and at jurisdictional levels, we’re certainly not going to see the progress that that we need,” he said. This call for action follows a scathing assessment last year by the Productivity Commission, that state and federal governments were “failing” to implement what has been promised under the National Agreement.
The first independent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led review is also underway, run by the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at UTS, which the Coalition of Peaks said will be a key accountability mechanism.
Minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, recently said that of the federal government remains committed to improving the lives of First Nations people but acknowledged there is “more to do”.
“The National Agreement on Closing the Gap, signed by all Australian Governments in 2020, remains the critical framework for delivering improved outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, in partnership with states and territories, local government and First Nations Peak organisations,” she said.
“The Albanese Government is focused on improving the lives of First Nations people through economic empowerment and jobs, easing cost of living and food security pressures in remote communities, and improving living conditions and well-being.”
Shadow Minister for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence, Kerrynne Liddle, said progress was being undercut by government failures in data provision.
“We know that some of the states and territories haven’t even provided their annual report for a number of years to inform the data.”
When it comes to family violence, she noted the data hasn’t been updated for any state or territory since the baseline year of 2019.
QIFVLS’ Senior Policy Officer Esther Tambo added “The lack of available data for Target 13 is of great concern because in the first instance government were only measuring two indicators, physical violence and threat of violence.
“Data plays a crucial role in driving policy by providing evidence-based insights, enhancing visibility into complex issues to enable effective policy making aligned with the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, which will then lead to better more sustainable outcome” she said.
While there are no individual targets for each state and territory, the Productivity Commission monitors the progress of each jurisdiction.
Mr Button said breaking down the data in this way can be revealing.
“We’re seeing variable trends, some states are regressing, some states are doing OK,” he said.
For example, some states have made progress on healthy birthweights, despite the national rate declining.
“When you break it down to jurisdictions where you know that … there’s investment in community-controlled services, and there’s mums and bubs programs that have existed for long periods of time … those jurisdictions are showing that they’re still well on track to achieve the target,” he said.
He said these successes showed the importance of governments working in close partnership with community-controlled organisations and First Nations peak bodies.
QIFVLS is proud to once again host the Overcoming Indigenous Family Violence Forum between 27th-28th May. This event will be our third Forum, and with each year the participation numbers and speaker content continues to grow.
The venue for this year’s Forum is the QT Hotel on the Gold Coast, offering easy access for delegates and speakers located close to South-East Queensland. And while the event is hosted by our Queensland-based organisation, it continues to draw strong participation from across Australia.
As an exciting addition to the two day Forum, this year’s event offers an optional on-country workshop on Thursday 29th May: Journey to Dreaming Mountain. Jellurgal Dreaming Mountain, also known as Jellurgal, is a culturally significant site to the local Aboriginal Peoples of the Yugambeh speaking language in Burleigh Head National Park. Jellurgal Aboriginal Cultural Centre, which resides on the edge of the national park, offers visitors a unique experience to journey to Jellurgal and learn about the region’s Aboriginal histories and culture.
31 speakers over two days, including
OCM: Thank you Adrian for taking the time to tell us a little bit about yourself. Perhaps we start with where you were born and raised.
Adrian: I was born and raised in Townsville, and had a pretty stable childhood. My dad worked as an electrician over on Palm Island for over 30 odd years. My mum was a teacher, and she ended up going over to Palm Island too, where she was a teacher for more than a decade. So I’ve had a strong connection with Palm Island over the over the years, and got to know a lot of the community members over there growing up, and still have connections with them to this day. I went to the one primary school, Currajong Primary and then on to Pimlico High School – so I had very stable education, compared to a lot of people I know who went to multiple different schools over the years.
OCM: So, tell us a bit more about your family, who is your mob?
Adrian: My mob is the Bidjara people, which is west of Rocky at Springsure, around the Carnarvon Gorge area. We’ve still got family in that region and a big lot in Townsville, plus some in Brisbane and Cairns. That’s on my mum’s side. My dad is non-Indigenous, what people would call Australian, but he’s got all sorts of nationalities in his backgound: English, Irish, Scottish and French. My mum was actually an Aboriginal Indian – grand dad was Indian and my grandma was Aboriginal.
In our family, I’m the youngest of two kids. My sister Andrea and I are very close in age, with only just over 12 months between us. She’s working as a manager at James Cook University in Townsville in the Indigenous unit and had previously spent some years as a teacher with the remote area education program, teaching teachers to become teachers. Mum, dad and my sister are in still living there in Townsville.
OCM: What formed you as a young man? Who would you say were your influences growing up?
Adrian: I was heavily involved in sports, so there were sporting personalities from that time that I was drawn to, and I had Church Ministers who shaped and molded me into who I am today – I’m still an active member of the Church.
I would also say my mum was a huge influence on my life. She was first to teach us about Aboriginal identity and we had a lot of strong women in our family, with my mum’s sisters and aunties.
OCM: You were very fortunate to have such good role models, and that’s reflected in the man that you’ve become and what you’ve achieved.
Adrian: Yeah, I would go to different ones for different things. Like on social issues for example, I remember having a lot of deep discussions with Reverend Dennis Corowa when I was a teenager, and he often challenged my view of the world. I enjoyed these discussions with him, over lunches and so on.
OCM: In what way did he challenge your perspective?
Adrian: By starting to see the disadvantage of First Nations people. As part of my education at the time I was learning a lot about Australian history, and with him being both a First Nations man and a Church Minister we would talk about some of that stuff that was going on in my mind; processing being a First Nations man and trying to find my identity and my own place in society. He really helped me see other perspectives because it’s quite easy just to have your viewpoint, or be in your own little bubble, and our discussions really helped stretch my perspectives.
OCM: After completing you schooling, which direction did you take?
Adrian: I finished Year 12 and to be honest, I struggled a bit because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I had thought that when I left school, I’d get an apprenticeship because I was good with my hands and I’d got straight A’s in woodwork and metalwork. In Year 11, I had been offered an apprenticeship with a locksmith which I turned down. Funnily, some years later after I’d joined the Queensland Police Force, this young guy came to the station to fix a lock on a cell door and it turned out that he was the one who took up the apprenticeship I’d been offered. It seemed like a real sliding doors moment.
I ended up doing six months of a TAFE business information technology course but decided that it wasn’t for me and I went over to Palm Island to work with my old man. While I was there he said “Why don’t you become a teacher like your mother. Great holidays, reasonable pay”. And I thought, yeah, I’ll do that but I didn’t have the right subjects to go to uni, so I did a tertiary prep with JCU majoring in education, and then two years of a Bachelor of Education at Griffith University in Brisbane. Unfortunately the Government changed the goal posts for Abstudy and it became means-tested. With both my parent’s combined income, my payments were cut to $77 a fortnight, which meant I couldn’t afford live in Brisbane and had to go home. I transferred uni up to JCU in Townsville for six months but I just got sick of struggling financially and I thought ‘there’s got to be something better than this’.
What sparked me to consider leaving uni to join the Police Force was a mate from school. He was First Nations kid who’d always wanted to be a police officer, and he’d achieved what he set out to achieve. I hadn’t seen him for years but I heard he just finished the Academy and he was in back in Townsville so we organised to catch up. I can remember seeing him in his police uniform and being so happy for him because he’d achieved exactly what he wanted and now had a career ahead of him. I think that sparked me to go ‘well if he can do it, I can do it’.
OCM: Specifically, what was it about a police career that appealed to you?
Adrian: Well for one you got paid, and my struggles would be over. Secondly, it seemed exciting. I was very athletic back in the day and I wanted to help my community as a First Nations person going into the police, so it all lined up.
Once I’d applied and went through the quite lengthy process of being accepted, I didn’t look back. I loved the Academy experience, which included a year up in Innisfail at Johnson River TAFE, where I got my Diploma of Justice Studies. By the time I’d graduated somewhere around the age of 22, I never looked back.
I really enjoyed my time in the police, it developed me, particularly with leadership skills. My first posting was back in Townsville as first year constable. Within that first year of policing I realised a veil had been lifted off my eyes. When I went back to my home town in that first year I saw the community very differently. I’d go to the shopping centre, for example, and see police officers who were off duty, which would have been oblivious to me before, and noticed people walking around town who I knew the police were on the lookout for. I realised I didn’t live a protected lifestyle anymore, that I was exposed. I remember going to my first job where an offender was armed and thinking ‘Oh crap, I can’t avoid this – I’ve got to actually go and deal with this. I could die today’.
OCM: When you appeared back in your hometown of Townsville wearing a police uniform, I assume you would have got some interesting reactions.
Adrian: In one of my first experiences as a first year constable, I was called to a DV job and we had to write down all the details in a log. It was a hand-written thing back in the day, and I remember looking down to write the arrival time in the book when my colleague said “Look at these two fat gins over here”. I looked up to see what he was talking about and went off. I said “That’s my auntie and my cousin, Nick!” and he didn’t know what to say. He ended up bending over backwards for my auntie and cousin after he realised he’d just stuffed up.
OCM: For him, it was just such an easy throwaway line.
Adrian: 100% it was. That was just an early experience of racism in the job.
OCM: How did you learn to handle that? Because you would have seen it frequently.
Adrian: I might be going to a job and someone will be describing a First Nations person by calling them derogatory names, and you know, you’ve got to be professional and I did that by not taking things personally. If anything, I felt sorry for them because they held those views or were uneducated.
People probably didn’t even recognise, in some cases, that I was a First Nations police officer. They tend to see the uniform first, not the person wearing it. Or they might have thought I was something else, like Indian or Greek.
When I reflect on my early career, I was just trying to be a good cop. There is no doubt, whether it was conscious or subconscious, I think I was just trying to fit the mold in the early years. Fortunately, I could balance my work with the Police Force by maintaining strong connections with family, my church and other community networks – and that probably helped ground me. I knew many other police officers who didn’t hang around with people outside of the Force much, which to me can be dangerous. It comes back to the wisdom of Reverend Corowa, and looking outside your own bubble.
After my first year in Townsville I was posted to Bowen for four years as a General Duties Officer, during which time I also got married. I had the opportunity to become a Senior Constable as traffic officer there, got my stripes, and then went over to Palm Island on promotion to Sergeant Shift Supervisor there for a two year tenure. After that I went back home to Bowen, where my family was, before transferring to McKay.
After serving in the Force for 16 years or so it had become clear to me that the service wasn’t meeting the needs of First Nations communities. I’d seen gaps and issues from early in my career but I didn’t feel like I was in a position back then to drive meaningful change. But after serving for many years an experienced sergeant and also relieving in areas such as District Duty Officer and in Officer-In-Charge roles, I started thinking more deeply about ways to make a difference on the issues I saw. I thought it would be good to establish a First Nations network within the QPS to support one another so I started ringing around, and then I ended up forming a First Nations working group. Because this was an entirely new initiative within the QPS, we came up against a lot of barriers and challenges but we became good at navigating the system and the hierarchy.
The working group included police officers, Police Liaison Officers and Administration Officers from across a wide range of ranks, plus some commissioned officers that were recruited along the way who became our champions.
OCM: How many First Nations police officers do you think were serving at that point?
Adrian: I think there were about 3% in the lower ranks at the time, mainly made up of Constables and Senior Constables. The higher up you went, the less Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation there were. Out of 355 commissioned officers, you’d be flat out finding even one in the commissioned ranks. Although I later found out that there were more senior officers of First Nations descent but who didn’t identify openly, knowing that it would harm their opportunities for advancement if they did.
I then got a job at the Gordonvale station in Cairns where I was the Officer-In-Charge and was there for about seven years. That’s where I did a lot of work getting the First Nations network established, and also establishing a First Nations Advisory Group that sat with the Commissioner. A group of us also shared our lived experience of racism in the QPS as a First Nation Police Officer with the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioners. And it wasn’t just First Nations officers in the group. There was an Indian officer and one from Papua New Guinea who both shared their own experiences. As a result, the Commissioner and Deputies established the First Nations and Multicultural Affairs Unit to try and bring necessary change into the organisation.
OCM: And did you see genuine change after that, or was it more lip service?
Adrian: There was some change initially, but unfortunately over time the rug was pulled out from underneath us. I think they didn’t expect us to succeed in bringing positive change. Police Services are risk averse and generally they are uncomfortable with anything that challenges the status quo, and if someone outside the organisational apex becomes influential, or starts get a profile, they don’t like that. They like you to conform – and not that we were a threat or a problem, but they started to see us as that. That’s where I thought, towards the end of my career, that I’d achieved all I could within the police, and that it was time to move on.
Some of the other challenges I had working within the QPS was the glass ceiling and the reluctance to offer formal recognition for our work. The establishment of the First Nations network was beyond my normal duty and QPS leaders would come to me for advice. As one example, a couple of officers were tasked with recruiting and training the Protective Service Officers for Palm Island and approached me for assistance. Together with a fellow Torres Strait Islander officer, we provided countless hours of time and energy to reviewing and advising them on their recruitment documentation and training programs. I gave them advice around getting a First Nations person in the uniform for marketing photos and reworded most of their recruitment and training information to use more appropriate language. They ended up with a huge number of applicants, and as a result, about 20 Protective Service officers were recruited. The recruits were trained them at the Townsville Academy and again my advice was sought around how best to engage with First Nations people. Later down the track, I learnt that these two officers got awards for the success of the program. We weren’t even acknowledged. This isn’t isolated – a lot of this happens.
OCM: So, after 25 years in the Police Service, where did your journey take you next?
Adrian: I ended up taking a Regional Managers role with DATSIP, based in Cairns but running a team responsible for an area that stretched north of Mossman to Cardwell in the south and out west, halfway through the Cape. We were tasked to establish local decision making bodies which are community lead group to deal with localised issues in communities. This work was under an initiative called ‘Local Thriving Communities’ and our department staff were called ‘community connectors’. They work with government agencies around First Nations engagement in economic participation, supporting First Nations businesses and employment.
More recently I’ve been employed as the Director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Justice Programs and Partnerships with the Department of Justice.
OCM: When did you become involved with QIFVLS?
Adrian: I’ve been part of QIFVLS about 13 years. I first became involved after one of the (non-Indigenous) Board Members approached me seeing the value I could bring within my combination of police and domestic and family violence experience.
Even from just my second year of policing, when I was posted to Bowen I was nominated as the station Domestic Violence Liaison Officer – checking police officers work to make sure they were responding and documenting it in appropriate way. I guess my knowledge of domestic and family violence legislations, policies and procedures is a lot higher than your average police officer. It also involved working closely with stakeholders and I’d become very passionate about addressing DV issues with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
So, when that Board Member asked if I was interested in joining, I said that it sounded like something I’d love to be involved with.
OCM: In the years you’ve been working in and around the DV sector, have you seen meaningful progress?
Adrian: I think a lot has happened in the sector. I think we’ve seen the area broaden from the focus of supporting not only the victims but more holistically to welfare and the children, and even to perparator’s programs. I’ve been involved in father’s program as well for six years and we’re starting to understand domestic and family violence a lot more. There’s also been a lot of legislation changes over the years. It’s still a huge problem in community, and I’m a big believer that if you have healthy families, you have healthy communities. If you have dysfunctional families, you get dysfunctional communities. I think supporting the family unit and addressing domestic and family violence in the home will even lead to a reduction in youth crime and other social problems.
OCM: As the Board Chairman, what do you see as the vision for QIFVLS?
Adrian: We’ve just done our strategic plan, and I want to see QIFVLS continuing to do what it does well now – as in the legal and case management support, but it’s also how can we help the whole family unit with more holistic support.
OCM: So lastly, how does Adrian like to relax? What do you do in your time off?
Adrian: I love to spend time with my kids and my wife, and watching the kids with their sport.
I’ve got two adults up in Cairns and a 17 year old in his final year of school with Brisbane Grammar, through a scholarship. Plus my twins who are turning 13 this year. They’re at Brisbane State High School, starting their high school journey.
I like playing golf, although I don’t play as nearly as much as I’d like and I also love music. I used to play music a lot and did percussion through primary and into high school, and I picked up other instruments as well – so I can play guitar, piano and the keyboard. Towards the end of schooling and afterwards for a while, I used to be in a band. We won the Townsville Battle of Bands back in the day and were a support act for Yothu Yindi, and because we were Christian band, also supported the international artist Steve Grace, although that all feels like another lifetime ago.
OCM: Thanks Adrian.
When an individual or organisation makes a tax deductible donation to QIFVLS, they can be confident that their funds are going towards making a tangible difference to the safety and welfare of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experiencing or at risk of domestic and family violence.
Our team are grateful for all donations that help our not-for-profit organisation to continue offering this critical service. Donations of $1,000 or more help fund outreach services to some of Queensland’s most remote ATSI communities.
Are you in search of a rewarding profession that will take you on journeys through the breathtaking landscapes of Queensland? One that promises not only career advancement and skill enhancement, but also attractive perks, substantial travel allowances, and one-of-a-kind professional adventures? Are you drawn to a career that enables you to make a positive difference in the lives of others?
Look no further – your new career awaits you! At QIFVLS, we are dedicated to combating Family and Domestic Violence within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities. Our methods encompass education, advocacy, legal reform, court support, and casework assistance. By focusing on early intervention and prevention, our aim is to empower individuals impacted by Family Violence to regain control over their lives. We are in search of outstanding and dynamic individuals who can join us in achieving this mission.
If you envision yourself fitting into this scenario, we encourage you to see what’s available here.
