Office of the Independent Implementation Supervisor

In March 2021 the Queensland Government established the independent Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce (the Taskforce) to examine coercive control and review the need for a specific offence of 'commit domestic violence' and the experience of women across the criminal justice system.

In both of its reports, the Taskforce recommended the Queensland Government establish the Office of the Independent Implementation Supervisor (OIIS) to oversee the implementation of the Queensland Government response to the Taskforce recommendations, including the response to the report from the Independent Commission of Inquiry into Queensland Police Service responses to domestic and family violence (Commission of Inquiry).

The OIIS was responsible for overseeing and reporting bi-annually on:

  • the progress of the implementation of the Taskforce recommendations and the achievement of systemic outcomes
  • the adequacy of implementation
  • what further measures may be required to ensure the recommendations supported by the Queensland Government are implemented fully within the specified timeframes.

The final OIIS biannual progress report was issued in November 2024. As the OIIS was closed soon after on 20 February 2025, no further biannual progress reports will be issued by them.

The former Independent Implementation Supervisor

Ms Catherine (Cathy) Taylor was appointed as the Independent Implementation Supervisor in March 2023 to oversee the Queensland Government’s response to recommendations made by the Taskforce and Commission of Inquiry.

Cathy has over 20 years’ experience as a senior public servant in Queensland and South Australia. With undergraduate qualifications in law and postgraduate qualifications in law and public administration, Cathy has worked both in and across strategic policy, legislative reform, planning and service delivery roles in the areas of child protection, youth justice, disability services and domestic violence.

In 2016, Cathy was appointed as Chief Executive to establish and lead the Department for Child Protection in South Australia. Cathy was also awarded the Institute of Public Administration Australia National Fellowship in 2019 for outstanding contribution to the study and practice of public administration. In 2021, she was appointed as Adjunct Industry Professor with the University of South Australia. Cathy has been a member of the Board of Logan Together since May 2023 and Life Without Barriers 'chair of practice governance' since December 2023.

The approach

The OIIS used several approaches to monitor and report on the progress of implementation of domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) and criminal justice sector reforms.

These approaches examined progress of individual recommendations due for completion and looked at implementation through a system-wide lens to examine collective progress and achievements more broadly.

  1. Progress of individual recommendations:
    1. progress of significant milestones for relevant in progress recommendations
    2. progress of all recommendations due to be completed—adequacy of implementation for relevant completed recommendations.
  2. Progress of implementation across the system:
    1. progress of implementation by key thematic areas
    2. broader findings and conclusions across the system.
  3. Deep-dive discussions:
    1. deep dives into individual recommendations to highlight examples of best practice and innovation.

  • In each reporting period, the OIIS assessed the progress of recommendations due to be completed in full, as well as interim milestones that were considered 'significant', meaning they were foundational to the implementation of the reform program or to creating tangible changes on the ground.

    Individual recommendations due to be completed in full were reported as:

    • Progress (for all recommendations)
      • not scheduled/commenced—not yet scheduled to have commenced or scheduled to be in progress but yet to commence
      • starting—any front-end planning in progress e.g. recruitment for project team, project planning, or procurement activity (may not be applicable for every recommendation)
      • in progress—delivery underway e.g. co-design process underway, consultation in progress, strategy or framework development under development, pilot underway
      • near completion—awaiting any final endorsements, evaluations or closure activity (may not be applicable for every recommendation)
      • complete—recommendation deemed complete by the government, final closure report signed off
      • on hold—delivery on hold
      • delayed—recommendation is underway (starting, in progress, or near completion) but is behind schedule
    • Fulfillment (for all recommendations)
      • not fulfilled—government response not considered fulfilled by the OIIS
      • fulfilled (not yet closed)—government response considered fulfilled by the OIIS with further monitoring required
      • fulfilled (closed)—government response considered fulfilled by the OIIS with no further monitoring required
    • Adequacy (for all recommendations)
      • no evidence that the government response was met
      • limited evidence that the government response was met with sufficient adherence, quality and sustainability
      • satisfactory evidence that the government response was met with sufficient adherence, quality and sustainability
      • strong evidence that the government response was met with sufficient adherence, quality and sustainability.

  • The OIIS also monitored progress achieved across the system. This involved examining implementation through different lenses to understand—at a high level—where progress or delays were observed across the system, and identifying areas of collective impact.

    1. Level of system change:
      1. system-wide change—281 recommendations
      2. knowledge transfer change—54 recommendations
      3. practice change—85 recommendations.
    2. Spectrum of prevention:
      1. primary prevention—12 recommendations (strategies and interventions aimed to prevent violence before it occurs by addressing the underlying factors that contribute to violence, such as societal norms, gender inequalities, and cultural attitudes)
      2. early intervention—26 recommendations (interventions that aim to change the trajectory for individuals at higher risk of perpetrating or experiencing violence)
      3. crisis response—59 recommendations (interventions that support victim-survivors of violence against women, and hold perpetrators to account, to prevent the reoccurrence of violence)
      4. recovery and healing—39 recommendations (interventions that support rehabilitation and healing for victim-survivors to prevent the cycle of abuse and support long-term safety, health, wellbeing and resilience).
    3. Target cohort:
      1. exploring progress of implementation for specific groups, such as children and young people, First Nations people, and regional/remote communities, among others.

    Note: The number of recommendations across categories does not equal the total number in the reform program, as recommendations may map to multiple categories.

Engagement

In addition to the monitoring activities undertaken for the biannual progress reports, the OIIS engaged with the Queensland community more broadly to understand how the Taskforce reforms were being implemented, where Queenslanders were observing impact, and to highlight areas of opportunity moving forward.

Reports

Progress reports were prepared by the OIIS detailing the progress of recommendations due to be completed within each 6-month reporting period. These reports also explored the adequacy of implementation of selected recommendations, deep-dive discussions on selected areas of implementation, and broader findings relating to progress achieved across the system:

The final OIIS biannual progress report was issued in November 2024. As the OIIS was closed soon after, no further biannual progress reports will be issued by them.

Last reviewed:08 August 2025

Last modified:08 August 2025

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