Police Commissioner Orders Review of Handling of Giuffre Case

The police commissioner ordered an internal review into how officers handled Virginia Giuffre’s case. The announcement came during a parliamentary estimates hearing on Tuesday when a Liberal MP asked whether police had responded appropriately to her requests for help in the months before she died by suicide in April 2025.

The commissioner said he could not provide assurances that police had properly responded to every request for help. He noted that officers respond to more than 100,000 family violence incidents each year and stated that this case would now be reviewed.

Background to the Review Giuffre’s brothers wrote to the commissioner in May requesting a formal review of police decision-making, including family violence risk assessments and the handling of domestic violence complaints. The commissioner said he requested the internal review shortly after receiving that letter.

The family had also called for a public coronial inquest, arguing that Giuffre may have been misidentified as a perpetrator rather than a victim of family violence. Sixteen domestic violence researchers and practitioners supported the request for an inquest.

The Coroner’s Court of Western Australia has not yet decided whether the matter will proceed to a public inquest. The commissioner noted that the matter is already before the Coroner’s Court and could also be examined by the Ombudsman.