Qld Police set to run an IT systems review

The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is to assess its IT operating model and corporate systems in response to findings from a 100-day workforce review.

The review will be led by a specialist ICT consultancy and is expected to guide a redesign of QPS’s IT operating model, shape its enterprise systems strategy and inform future technology procurement, including the adoption of cloud-based solutions.

According to a final report [pdf] from the state’s police commissioner, the IT review will focus on the force’s Frontline and Digital Division, although it specified that this would lead to no structural changes and only a rebranding of the division.

QPS did not respond to an inquiry from iTnews regarding the review’s timeline and process by the time of publication.

The commissioner review, conducted between March and June 2025, highlighted several challenges exacerbated by QPS’s outdated technology stack and fragmented processes.

One key concern was fatigue management, with the report recommending a centralised, automated system to track additional hours worked, including overtime and special services.

According to the findings, excessive working hours are currently identified only when officers in charge (OICs) approve pay claims through the force’s Aurion platform every fortnight.

Special services - duties that fall outside regular rostered operations - are processed via applications that are housed in a patchwork of unlinked platforms, including Power Apps and SharePoint, leading to a limited wider overview of police officers’ working hours.

The review also found limited use of data and ICT systems to proactively monitor and manage fatigue risks.

As such, the review recommended QPS adopt a unified, automated system to manage planned duties and enforce fatigue limits before work begins.

An ideal future state

Another key recommendation made was that QPS adopt a “centralised rostering capability”.

The report envisioned an “ideal future state transition to a demand-based rostering model that uses real-time and predictive data to match resources to operational need”.

However, a “major barrier” to this is an absence of a centralised and reliable dataset to underpin a demand-based rostering system.

Although the report notes that QPS has various dashboards to “highlight when and where demand occurs”, a lack of an integrated system means this information does not translate into “practical, actionable resourcing decisions”.

This gap in centralised data and analytics is also affecting QPS’s ability to manage staff retention, with police districts relying on informal, local monitoring processes to track at-risk personnel.

As such, QPS is exploring the implementation of a single, integrated software platform to oversee and manage employee sentiment.

Following similar efforts by NSW Police, QPS “may consider investment” in technology that can identify at-risk workforce groups and target interventions to support retention and recruitment.