On Tuesday 26 July 2022, Liberty Victoria’s Rights Advocacy Project (RAP) will launch its report ‘Police Panopticon: Zooming in on the Use of Body Worn Cameras by Victoria Police Officers’. The Victorian rollout of body worn cameras (BWCs) to all frontline police officers was completed in 2019, with claims that the devices deter police misconduct and increase transparency. However, a lack of specific legislation and external oversight on police use of BWCs means the ability of the technology to operate as an accountability mechanism is compromised.

This report identifies three critical areas related to police use of BWCs - activation, disclosure and enforcement - and outlines recommendations for legislative reform.

Panellists include:

Tamar Hopkins

Tamar Hopkins was the founding lawyer of the Police Accountability Project at Flemington & Kensington Community Legal Centre, and has been litigating, researching and writing in area of racial profiling and police accountability since 2006. She was the 2010 LIV Community Lawyer of the Year and has acted in a number of high profile matters including Haile-Michael v Konstantindis & Ors (settled, Federal Court of Australia 2013), Horvath v Australia (UN Human Rights Committee). She is currently undertaking a PhD at UNSW on racial profiling.

Jeremy King

Jeremy King leads the police misconduct team at Robinson Gill and is responsible for extensive advocacy for reform of police oversight, including making submissions to the IBAC Parliamentary Committee’s Inquiry into the External Oversight of Police Corruption and Misconduct in Victoria and giving evidence at the public hearings held by this Committee. He is regularly interviewed by the media and publishes on police misconduct matters. Jeremy has recently been involved in high profile police misconduct cases including Hares and Hyenas, Chris Karadaglis and Dr Kim Proudlove.

Nevena Spirovska (Chair)

Nevena is a strategist, engagement, and advocacy expert with a passion for contributing to and enriching the LGBTIQA+ community. She currently serves as the Co-Convener of the Victorian Pride Lobby, is a non-executive Board Director of Thorne Harbour Health, an Advisory member of the Banyule City Council LGBTIQA+ Committee, a monthly contributor to Pro Bono News, and a volunteer with GiveOUT Australia. She works at Victoria's peak body for children, young people, and their families, the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare. Nevena has previously held senior positions in the Victorian Parliament and the Australian judiciary. She has also served as an advisor to the United Nations and led campaigns for Amnesty International.