A REPORTED rise in Domestic Violence in south-west Queensland cases may actually be a positive increase, according to Superintendent Maurice Poiner.

The latest annual statistical review from the Queensland Police has recorded a 27% rise in the rate of domestic and family violence applications per 100,000 persons.

There were 913 applications made in the 2015/16 period compared to 722 in the 2014/15 period.

Supt Poiner said the rise in the number of applications could be due to the fact there were a lot more people willing to come forward.

"I'd actually class this as a good increase because people are speaking up," he said.

"With the high-profile awareness of the topic I suppose a lot more people are open to talking about their experiences.

"It's being reported more as the stigma starts to dissipate."

Police have also taken a zero tolerance stance against DV-related crime and hope to encourage more people to come forward and report it.

"Don't get me wrong, there are people out there who are still afraid to speak up and of what people will think," he said.

"At the same time we are taking a zero tolerance approach to domestic violence so if there is any associated crime around it we are charging people."

Supt Poiner said along with this, there has also been a large increase in the number of people being detected drug driving compared to drink driving.

"People need to understand that it is a problem," he said.

"I don't think there are any more or any less (drug driving occurrences) than there always has been but our detection methods have gotten better.

"We didn't always have the means to detect it and now we do so we are starting to see it spike."