CITATION: Darren Hall

This police officer made disclosures about the failures of watchdog authorities in law enforcement to properly investigate allegations made against 25 police officers, in what has been termed the Dangerous Liaisons report.

He is the second police Officer, after Col Dillon of Fitzgerald Inquiry fame, to receive the Award.

Mr Hall, and a second person who wishes to remain unknown, were recognized jointly for the exposure that their separate disclosures gave to the poor performance and to the failures of watchdog authorities.

Such watchdogs carry a heavy responsibility for the regulation and oversight of accountability within important sections of the public sector.

Darren Hall’s disclosures led to investigation into the Crime and Misconduct Commission, and the disclosures of the joint awardee brought inspection upon two watchdog authorities whose failures were bringing great concern to wide sections of the community.

The failures of watchdog authorities, even their ‘capture’ by the sectors that the watchdogs are supposed to be regulating, is the single most significant factor undermining confidence in Queensland’s institutions.

It has also been the single most ignored factor by governments and by their inquiries, when seeking to understand the systemic failures that are occurring across and amongst our institutions.

That is why the disclosures by Darren Hall and the joint awardee are special, and are having a major impact in bringing a more questioning attitude by the public towards the performance of watchdogs like the CMC.