Karen Webb

Karen Webb served as Commissioner of Police from February 2022 to June 2025, becoming the first woman to hold the position in New South Wales. Her tenure coincided with the most comprehensive formal examination of institutional failure in relation to LGBTIQ hate crimes ever conducted: the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ Hate Crimes (the Sackar Inquiry, also known as the SCOI), which ran from 2022 to 2023. The SCOI examined the deaths of 27 gay men and one transgender woman in NSW between 1970 and 2010, investigating both the original police responses and the subsequent reinvestigation process. Commissioner Webb’s force was required to engage with and support the SCOI process. The NSW Government delivered its formal response to the SCOI’s recommendations in October 2024, committing to a range of measures relating to further investigations, institutional reform, and support for affected families.

Tenure dates sourced from Wikipedia: List of commissioners of the New South Wales Police. Wikipedia is used for reference only; substantive claims are sourced to primary documents cited elsewhere in this project.