What it does
The Police Service Administration Act 1990 (the Act) is the foundational statute governing the Queensland Police Service (QPS). At its core, it establishes a permanent body known as the 'Queensland Police Service' (s.2.1) and delineates its composition, functions, and operational framework. The Act's primary purpose is to ensure the QPS operates as an efficient, accountable, and community-oriented law enforcement agency.
Structurally, the Act is divided into 11 parts. Part 1 provides preliminary matters, including the short title, commencement (s.1.2), objects (s.1.3 – maintenance, membership, and development of the QPS), and definitions (s.1.4, with the dictionary in Schedule 2). Key interpretive provisions include the meaning of 'tenure not limited by time' (s.1.5), which distinguishes permanent from fixed-term appointments.
Part 2 maintains the QPS (s.2.1) and defines its membership as police officers, recruits, and staff members (s.2.2). Police officers encompass the commissioner, executive officers, commissioned and non-commissioned officers, constables, and special constables (State officers). Functions are exhaustively listed in s.2.3: preserving peace and good order statewide and extraterritorially where laws apply; protecting communities from criminal disruption and offences; preventing crime; detecting and bringing offenders to justice; upholding the law; administering the Criminal Code and other statutes responsibly and subject to due process and commissioner directions; providing emergency assistance as reasonably expected; and securing state buildings. Section 2.3A mandates police attendance at fires or hazardous materials emergencies to preserve order and assist. Command responsibility at incidents falls to the senior officer present (s.2.3AA). Community responsibility is preserved (s.2.4), emphasising partnership. Staff members, including public service officers, commissioner appointees under s.8.3(5) or the Public Sector Act 2022, protective services officers, MRQ and SES members, are subject to commissioner directions (s.2.5). Police officers, recruits, and special constables are employed under the Act, not the Public Sector Act 2022 (s.2.5A).