The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) has rejected an attempt by the NSW Police Commissioner to prevent public hearings into allegations of police violence against the community at Sydney Town Hall on 9 February 2026.
The extraordinary intervention by NSW Police, made just 12 days before public hearings were scheduled to commence, has delayed the investigation and resulted in a decision that most witnesses, including civilians who allege they were subjected to police violence, will now give their evidence in private.
The LECC has rejected the Police Commissioner's legal arguments against public hearings and confirmed that a public opening and examinations of senior police officers will proceed, with evidence from private examinations to be addressed in its final public report.
Greens MP and spokesperson for Justice Sue Higginson said:
"The Police have known for more than six months that there would be public hearings into their conduct at Town Hall, but they waited until just 12 days before hearings were due to begin before trying to derail this critical transparency work by the independent police watchdog,"
"This was an extraordinary attempt by the Police to suppress the public examination of allegations of serious misconduct by uniformed police officers, and to prevent public scrutiny of the political decisions and command structures that led to police violence against protesters,"
"The violence against the community happened in full public view, it was filmed by journalists and members of the community, and the footage was seen across the world. For the Police Commissioner to then seek to shut the public out of the independent investigation is a disgrace,"
"The LECC has been scathing in its assessment of the Police Commissioner's conduct. It found that the delay caused by the Police was more than regrettable, and that the legal arguments put forward by Police would actually undermine the purpose of the laws that establish independent police oversight,"
"NSW Police sought to prevent the public opening address, all witness examinations and even the livestreaming of hearings that the LECC determined should be public. This was an attempt to prevent the community from seeing the evidence against Police examined in public,"
"It is deeply disappointing that the outcome of this intervention is that the community members who allege they were assaulted by Police will now give their evidence behind closed doors. The decision means the people who experienced the violence will not have the same opportunity to publicly give their accounts as the senior Police officers responsible for the operation,"
"Police officers are entrusted with extraordinary coercive powers, including the power to arrest people and use force. Those powers come with an obligation to be accountable to the community, particularly when there are serious allegations that those powers have been abused,"
"The LECC investigation must be allowed to proceed without further obstruction or delay. The people who were subjected to this violence, and the entire NSW community, deserve a full and public account of the failures by police and the violence that they committed," Ms Higginson said.
Background
In its decision of 29 September 2026, the LECC confirmed that:
- The Police Commissioner had been informed on 23 March 2026 that public examinations and a public opening were contemplated, but did not raise objections until 9 September 2026.
- NSW Police sought to have the opening address and all witness examinations conducted privately, without livestreaming.
- The Police Commissioner alternatively sought individual opportunities to contest public examinations and opposed livestreaming even where public hearings were permitted.
- The LECC described the late intervention as "more than regrettable", citing the disruption, delay and additional use of public resources.
- The LECC rejected the Police Commissioner's interpretation of its statutory powers, finding that the proposed approach would undermine rather than promote the objects of the LECC Act.
- The LECC determined that a public opening address and examinations of senior police officers would proceed, while evidence from operational police officers and civilian witnesses would be heard privately and addressed in the final public report.
