Police share deep fake video of their boss

In September,  2026 ABC news shared that members of the Northern Territory Police Force have allegedly shared a deep fake pornographic video of a former colleague, ex Assistant Commissioner Janelle Tonkin. Tonkin shared with ABC news that the sexually explicit video was created using her official Police identification photograph.

Tonkin, having left NT Police is now President of Australasian Council of Women and Policing and stated that the deepfake video was not an isolated incident but instead “sits within a broader set of experiences I’ve had over recent times in this organisation.”

Her statement, only released once court proceedings were finalised stated that the incident was “extremely distressing, personally and professionally” and that “there remains real work to do” to build a workplace where every officer is treated with respect.

The outcome of the court proceedings is not known.

Misogyny is a key driver of violence against women. Make no mistake sharing deep fake images and videos is an act of non-physical violence – it leaves many scars. It is also one of the worst forms of sexism and misogyny in the world right now.

To understand violence against women, we need to understand the broad and devastating impact of men normalising sexist jokes and other actions that demean and harm women.

Within the same month, Northern Territory Police member Senior Sergeant Leigh Yates was charged over an alleged domestic violence incident occurring in Palmerston. He  was charged with aggravated assault and served with a domestic violence intervention order regarding the incident which occurred on the 17th of September, 2026.

Unbelievably, Yates was also charged in relation to an incident which occurred two days prior - having been charged with possessing a firearm whilst unlicensed; possessing ammunition without a permit or licence; two counts of possessing a prohibited weapon and two counts of possessing body armour.

Yates was bailed to appear in the Darwin Local Court, suspended with full pay by NTPol and even given relaxed bail conditions to allow him to have a “casual beer” - after he had allegedly assaulted his partner after a “couple of wines”. 

The Police protecting their own, whether it be through “Police investigating Police”, being given relaxed bail conditions or keeping mum on court results is nothing new to Peta Davidson - whose daughter Holly Davidson was a long time Police officer both in Victoria and Northern Territory prior to her death in March 2020.

Holly died of an unexplained catastrophic head injury in Darwin when she was only 38 years old. Holly was a victim of coercive control and physical violence at the hands of her partner, fellow Northern Territory Police officer Matthew Kevin Lea-Smith.

Upon discovering Holly acutely unwell, Police and Ambulance were called and she was taken to hospital where she would unfortunately succumb to her injuries. Police who attended her address failed to declare her home a crime scene, therefore likely missing vital evidence which could have helped ascertain what exactly happened to Holly in the days and hours before her death.

During the inquest into Holly’s death, Lea-Smith refused to answer any questions as it “might incriminate him in an offence relating to the death”, Northern Territory Corner Judge Greg Cavanagh stated that this was “the only time In 25 years” he had seen a serving Police office refuse to participate in a coronial inquest.

It is clear to see that Police who attended Holly’s death failed to recognise it as possibly suspicious and did not adequately investigate allegations against their own colleague fully.

Until recently, Australian state and territory Police forces have made minimal effort to address concerns around “Officer Involved Domestic Violence” (OIDV), generally treating it as any other form of domestic violence offending, only deeming where appropriate to refer some matters to internal Professional or Ethical standards commands. This has been met with criticism due to the lack of external and independent oversight - more Police, investigating Police.

In recent years, only two states Victoria and Tasmania have introduced more investigation and reporting policies - being the “Sexual Offences and Family Violence Unit” arm in their Professional Standards Command in Victoria and the “Family and Sexual Violence Involving Police” Policy. In Victoria this allows victim-survivors to report incidents directly to that unit. Tasmania’s model features an independent review committee consisting of Police, a victim-survivor advocate representative and a Safe Families Coordination Unit representative.

Police investigating other Police in domestic and family violence matters has been criticised previously by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, instead LECC recommended that such investigations should be looked at impartially by an external party. The privacy and safety of victim-survivors must be protected in matters involving alleged Police perpetrators, without this actual or perceived conflicts of interest interfere with the process for obtaining justice and act as a further deterrent for victims to report incidents.

Peta Davidson is continuing to call for a specialised federal taskforce to be formed to investigate allegations of domestic violence involving Police members across the country, as well as a public inquiry into Police-perpetrated abuse.

Please help bring in Holly's Law by sharing this petition. You can read Holly's story here or listen to Holly's story on the She Matters Podcast, which is available wherever you get your podcasts.

This update was penned by an Australian Femicide Watch researcher on behalf of Peta Davidson and runs with her approval.