Queensland Police Service says false-allegation rates are very low
Amanda Stoker was appointed Queensland’s state minister for the prevention of domestic violence on Saturday. The portfolio includes responsibility for the child safety system, which Stoker took over following Amanda Camm’s resignation. Women’s safety advocates raised concerns about Stoker’s appointment because of her comments on sexual-assault evidence and false allegations.
In a 2023 opinion piece published by the Menzies Research Centre, an independent think tank, Stoker raised concerns about reforms to the criminal justice system that she said could harm innocent defendants. She opposed changes allowing media to name accused rapists before trial, writing that they removed “a small protection against the harm done to an accused’s reputation from adverse publicity in cases so weak that they don’t even meet the standard necessary to go to trial.”
In the same article, Stoker wrote: “What I do know is that the push for us all to blindly ‘#believeher’ (or any witness) rather than carefully assess the relevant evidence is prone to cause great harm to those defendants who are innocent.” She also said removing the right to face an accuser or fully test evidence in court would increase the number of innocent people punished for crimes they did not commit.
Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame, who criticised Stoker’s appointment to the federal outer ministry in 2021, called the new appointment “disappointing.” Tame later described it as “very disappointing, considering that as we know that sexual, family and domestic violence in Australia is only worsening.” She said: “Amanda has essentially played into the overarching gaslighting that is directed at victim survivors.”
The Guardian also reported that it spoke with several people in Queensland who support victims of domestic and sexual violence. They said privately they had concerns about Stoker taking over the portfolio, but none would speak publicly. The Guardian reported that support organisations say they have been warned not to criticise the government and that others have had public funding cut. Some people in the community sector publicly welcomed the appointment.
The Guardian said research has established that false allegations in sexual and domestic violence cases are rare. The Queensland Police Service says on its website there is “no evidence that many women make vexatious reports” of sexual violence and that the rate of false allegations is “very low.” The police service says the myth is “harmful for society and harmful for victims of sexual offences,” contributes to under-reporting and makes victims wrongly fear they will face disbelief and blame.
Full Stop Australia CEO Karen Bevan said “what leaders say about sexual violence is heard by every person deciding whether to tell someone what happened to them.” She said victim-survivors need to know that if they come forward, they will be believed, supported and taken seriously. Bevan said 92% of women who experience sexual assault in Queensland never report it to police.
Bevan also distinguished believing a disclosure from deciding guilt. “Believing someone when they disclose is not the same as deciding guilt. Police still investigate, and courts still test the evidence. A fair trial and a system that victim-survivors trust can, and must, exist together,” she said.
The Guardian said Stoker had repeatedly supported the rights of people accused of sexual assault and had made comments over several years suggesting false allegations of sexual assault are made. In 2019, speaking to Sky News about universities’ handling of sexual-assault allegations, Stoker said: “we don’t want to see victims harmed, but we also don’t want to see people harmed by false allegations.”
Stoker, who became a headline speaker at anti-abortion rallies, was chosen for the Senate in 2018 with the backing of the Liberal National party’s faction of “Christian soldiers.” She left the Senate in 2022 and was elected to the Queensland parliament in 2024.
Stoker’s office did not address specific questions sent Tuesday, including whether her prior statements were consistent with the state government’s promise to put “victims at the heart of government.” A spokesperson said there was broader context to the minister’s previous comments. The spokesperson said Stoker had a legal background and “cares deeply about procedural fairness in all cases.”
The spokesperson also said Stoker was “looking forward to engaging with, supporting, and hearing from all stakeholders and organisations within the new portfolio remit” and supports the Crisafulli government’s policy direction, which the spokesperson said she had consistently backed since the government was elected. Stoker also did not respond to questions about whether she supported safeguarding measures for victim-survivors, including the ability for some to give evidence from a “safe room.” In her 2023 article, she wrote that removing “the right to face one’s accuser” or the ability to fully test evidence in court would “increase the number of innocent people who will be punished for crimes they didn’t commit.”