NSW police commissioner’s late bid for private hearings delayed Sydney protest inquiry

NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon’s late bid to argue for private hearings delayed the watchdog’s inquiry into policing at a 9 February protest near Sydney Town Hall, according to a decision reported on 8 October. The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission has since set a public opening address for 19 October, followed by private examinations and later public questioning of senior officers. The sequence determines when protesters and the wider public can hear evidence about the police operation.

The dispute concerned how Operation Makalu, the commission’s investigation of the police response, would hear evidence. The LECC says it is examining whether police conduct at Sydney Town Hall and surrounding areas was lawful and appropriate, including officers’ conduct toward people attending the protest. It has made no findings on those questions.

Why the Sydney protest hearings were delayed

Lanyon’s legal representatives first indicated on 9 September that he wanted to be heard on whether examinations should take place in public or private, The Guardian reported. That was less than two weeks before public hearings were due to begin. The planned 21 September start was postponed to allow a private hearing on the procedural issue.

LECC chief commissioner Peter Johnson SC called the timing ‘more than regrettable’. According to The Guardian, he said the late intervention affected the orderly progress of the investigation and preparation for examinations, while adding cost and disruption for the watchdog and NSW Police.

Which Operation Makalu hearings will be public

The commission’s published schedule says counsel assisting will give an opening address on 19 October to outline the investigation’s scope. The LECC then expects to conduct private examinations for about five weeks. Public examinations of senior commissioned officers are intended to follow, but the watchdog has not announced their dates or detailed format.

The Guardian reported that the procedural decision placed factual issues in the private examinations and systemic issues in the later public sessions. That division means the opening address will be the next public account of the inquiry’s scope, while the questioning scheduled immediately afterward will take place in private. The eventual public sessions are expected to focus on senior officers.

The LECC’s earlier guidance says some Operation Makalu examinations would be open to the public and media. It also says the inquiry will end with a report to Parliament that will be published on the commission’s website. Neither the scheduled examinations nor that report amount to findings available now.

What the watchdog is investigating

The inquiry concerns the police operation around Sydney Town Hall on the evening of 9 February 2026. The LECC says it is reviewing video and phone footage, documents and records from police and the public, and speaking with people who were there. It describes itself as an oversight body independent of NSW Police and the NSW Crime Commission.

According to The Guardian, the inquiry will consider police use of OC spray, arrest powers and force, as well as planning for the protest and possible improvements to protest policing. Those are subjects for examination, not conclusions about misconduct. The paper reported that numerous protesters and 10 officers were injured, including protesters in their 70s and 80s. Those figures are reported accounts, not findings by the LECC.

The Guardian also reported that 30 people were charged in the months after the protest, that charges against four were later dropped, and that more than 20 people were due to face a joint hearing in July 2027. Those criminal proceedings are separate from the watchdog’s assessment of the police operation.

Responses and the next public steps

NSW Greens justice spokesperson Sue Higginson criticised the push for private hearings, according to The Guardian. NSW Police told the paper it had cooperated with the LECC under the governing law and acknowledged the decision to hold private hearings while awaiting the inquiry’s findings.

For now, the public timetable has two firm features: the 19 October opening address and an anticipated period of private examinations lasting about five weeks. The LECC says it will provide more information about the later public examinations in due course. Its assessment of whether police conduct was lawful and appropriate remains outstanding.