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The Northern Territory police commissioner has revealed police response times have worsened and costs have ballooned in the past year, during an extra day of evidence in an almost year-long coronial inquest into the deaths of four Aboriginal women killed at the hands of their partners.
Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the names of Indigenous people who have died, used with the permission of their families.
It also contains details of domestic and family violence some readers may find distressing.
The inquest, which began in July 2023, is examining the deaths of Kumanjayi Haywood, Ngyego Ragurrk, Miss Yunupiŋu and Kumarn Rubuntja, and in doing so interrogating the NT's domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) system.
In adding another day of evidence, Coroner Elisabeth Armitage said she wanted to better understand what progress had been made and what roadblocks remained to addressing the scourge in the NT.
NT Police Commissioner Michael Murphy was the first to give evidence on Monday, where he conceded police response times and dispatch times to domestic violence incidents had increased since the inquest began.
He attributed those increases to a rising number of priority-one call-outs and a lack of police officers available to respond.
"This is unprecedented, the amount of demand on police officers on a range of issues, but particularly family and domestic violence," he said.
Commissioner Murphy told the inquest that between 2022 and 2023, the number of hours police spent on domestic violence cases had jumped from 712,000 to 882,000.
Based on those statistics, he said the cost of DFSV to NT police was projected to reach $156 million by 2027 and $209 million by 2030 – almost half of the entire police operating budget.
Fresh scrutiny over culture within NT Police Force
Attitudes towards race within the NT Police Force, which have been the subject of significant scrutiny in recent months, were again put under the spotlight on Monday.
Commissioner Murphy told the inquest only 10 per cent of domestic and family violence incidents were reported to police and that building trust with the community was key to improving that.
When asked about racism within the force, he acknowledged there were "cultural issues", but said changes were being implemented to tackle the problem.
During questioning by Phillip Boulten, the lawyer representing the family of Kumarn Rubuntja, it was revealed an officer in Alice Springs was disciplined by the Professional Standards Command (PSC) after circulating a photo of an Aboriginal women topless on a social media chat with fellow officers in 2022.
The officer is not connected to the deaths of any of the four women being investigated by the coronial inquest.
The questions initially sparked objections from NT police's lawyer, Ian Freckleton KC, who said the specific incident was "tangential" to the inquest, however the coroner ultimately allowed the question.
Commissioner Murphy said the incident had resulted in the sergeant being "demoted" and transferred to Katherine, but he was then contacted by the NT Police Association to have the decision reviewed.
Commissioner Murphy said following a review, the PSC decision was rescinded, and the officer was instead placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond and transferred to Darwin, where he remains an active member of the force.
When asked why the demotion was reversed, Commissioner Murphy said he felt the punishment was "disproportionate" at the time.
However, speaking to the media outside of court, he admitted that stronger punishments should be enforced for racist behaviour.
Budgeting under fire
A lack of resourcing for services remained a focus throughout the day's evidence, with a number of questions levelled at witnesses about the co-responder model being trialled in Alice Springs.
A co-responder model, which was announced for the NT in November last year, involves police working alongside social workers in responding to DFSV calls.
Seranie Gamble, executive director of the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Reduction Division for Territory Families, told the inquest cost-modelling conducted prior to the program being trialled indicated roughly $1 million would be needed for each location.
Despite that, less than $300,000 was allocated to fund the pilot for both Alice Springs and Darwin.
As a result, the program is yet to be trialled in the NT's Top End.
The coroner also grilled Territory Families about its allocation of budget savings.
Last week's NT Budget said there was a $523,000 underspend in the child protection division of Territory Families in 2023-24, and a $4.3 million underspend in the department's domestic violence unit.
"I don't understand why there can't be some quarantining of funding so if it's not spent in one agency, why it can't be reallocated to other sectors to address the crisis"," Judge Armitage said.
The lawyer representing Territory Families said the issue would be addressed in the department's written submissions.