My first k11 with rear discs used to have poor handbrake grip cos one caliper had seized up and other pne was close to seizing so only had partial braking. Replacing or overhauling the caliper mechanism restored full braking capability.
So a neglected system could affect the calipers grip performance for a given pull force on the handbrake.
When handbrake is applied, theres usually some elastic stretch on the cable mechanism so there's a degree of give between having enough tension to hold the car static and not enough tension that it begins slip.
Another factor is static friction vs dynamic friction of the rear pads. Static friction is usually higher than dynamic friction. If u only apply just enough handbrake to barely hold the car static, the slightest nudge such as wind or football or other external additional loading may overcome the pads static holding ability and end up relying on its lower dynamic friction ability once it slips.
Now in the case of parking on a incline, the dynamic friction may not be able to brake the car falling under gravity and once it gets going it just gets worse n faster.
Another factor is weight. I woulda thought during parking the driver would apply enough handbrake to hold the car still before exiting. Once they exited, the car will be lighter by the weight of the driver and any passenger/cargo but the handbrake is still set to withstand the original heaviest weight.
This means that the additional force i mentioned before in order to overcome the static friction into dynamic friction would have to be equal or greater than the weight of the driver and any passenger/cargo during parking.
Unless in an unlikely and crazy situation that the driver had instantly exited the car and applied barely enough handbrake to hold Just the cars weight the instant the car had stopped on the slope.