Scathing police finance report puts former leadership in CCC sights

Queensland’s anti-corruption agency has been asked to probe poor financial governance at the top of the police service, with its interim commissioner saying the department has been “living beyond its means”.

An independent report by former public servant Neil Castles found a structural deficit of $400 million, driven by years of defiance of government funding decisions and a lack of financial discipline.

Commissioner Brett Pointing and minister Dan Purdie said they were working through the report’s 21 recommendations, but have ruled out redundancies or hiring freezes despite calls for the latter.

Opposition Leader Steven Miles welcomed the referral of any financial wrongdoing to the Crime and Corruption Commission, but said the report reads like a “plan to make cuts to our police service”.

The new corruption watchdog referral came after concerns were raised about a multimillion-dollar lease deal for a new station in Brisbane’s south, which was done without proper approvals.

Castles’ 99-page report, badged cabinet-in-confidence, was carried out between January and March for consideration in this year’s state budget process, after a two-week analysis by consultants EY.

The terms of reference barred Castles from considering redundancies, and required the department to operate within its existing budget.

“In several respects, the situation is more concerning than what was initially communicated at the commencement of this engagement,” Castles wrote in his executive summary.

“There are multiple factors that have contributed to the financial position in which QPS now finds itself.

“Unfortunately, the most significant contributing factor has been poor financial governance characterised by a number of years in which the budget was not balanced without additional assistance.”

Other contributing factors identified by Castles included police “defying government decisions by using funding provided for purposes other than for which the funding was intended”.

The projected June 2026 deficit of $400 million follows the $130 million shortfall reported in the department’s 2024-25 financial statements.

Castles found the department’s structural deficit had been driven by lack of controls around funding from the government, including the creation of new sworn and unsworn roles.

An ongoing practice of reclassifying staff to higher roles, without the required adjustments to absorb costs, included a $10 million annual bump across 1000 unsworn staff in 2022-23.

“… QPS has been ineffective in managing its financial position. In simple terms, the organisation has been living beyond its means.”

Police Commissioner Brett Pointing

Sworn officers have also been reclassified without cost adjustments, including 128 roles in 2025 at a cost of $1.4 million. This has come despite a record of operating deficits and growth in supply costs.

In a media conference with Purdie, Pointing said he passed the entire report onto the corruption watchdog, but declined to say which specific elements of the document drove him to do so.

“The findings are sobering, and have highlighted areas where the QPS has been ineffective in managing its financial position. In simple terms, the organisation has been living beyond its means,” he said.

Purdie cited an internal police finance probe in 2022 to question what the former Labor government knew.

Whether the issues were a failure of former police commissioners was now a “matter for the CCC” to determine, Purdie said, noting watchdog chair Bruce Barbour had signed off on the report’s release.

“Police on the front line were really concerned about the priorities of the former executive level team,” Purdie said.