Police Recruitment

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (14:30): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Police questions regarding SAPOL officer recruitment.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS:The Advertiser today stated that SAPOL is attempting to recruit 286 officers by June 2017 in five planned intakes, in order to reach the promised 313 recruits by 2018. My questions are:

1. Given that the time frame for the 313 target has been adjusted three times previously, what is the likelihood of the 286 figure being reached by June next year?

2. Given the annual attrition rate of approximately 160 officers, what recruitment programs is SAPOL implementing to achieve this goal?

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire: Good question.

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:31): The Hon. Mr Brokenshire is right: that is a good question, so I thank the Hon. Mr Stephens for asking it. The government has in place a very committed and substantial strategy to ensure that the South Australian police force numerically, in terms of the number of active sworn police officers, reaches the highest ever level on record throughout the state's history, and the objective is to have that peak in mid-2018 (I think you might have said next year, but our commitment is mid-2018). In mid-2018 the government will have realised its target of recruiting an extra 313 police officers over and above the earlier number.

That recruitment exercise is substantial. In fact, a layperson would be forgiven for not necessarily realising the complexity and amount of effort that is associated with actually realising that objective. I had the great pleasure only last week to tour around the SAPOL facility, which is actually responsible for this particular objective. Indeed, there is another whole section within SAPOL headquarters in Angus Street now set aside for the additional staff who have the responsibility of recruiting all these additional people.

It is a great story, because the government, through a decision in conjunction with the police commissioner, has decided to stop any active potential recruitment of overseas officers, likewise with interstate officers, so that maximises the opportunity for South Australians to be able to have such a great career.

These are well remunerated jobs. Working in SAPOL can be an incredibly satisfying career in a number of respects: first, financially, because they are well paid, stable, good quality jobs; and, secondly, in SAPOL you can have a whole number of different careers all with the same employer. Not too long ago I met a gentleman who was in the forensic section of SAPOL, and I think he had been in the STAR Group at one point earlier in his career.

There are a whole variety of different roles within SAPOL in which people are able to serve, so that variety can add an enormous amount of spice to your career. Thirdly, the most important point: working for an organisation like SAPOL provides another level of satisfaction that a lot of people in our community, quite frankly, do not have the opportunity to have.

They have the opportunity to do a paid job, a good stable job, and do it in the service of the community. That is not to take anything away from the extraordinary difficulty and challenges that our men and women face on the front line, which are substantial, and they are challenges, I think, that everyone in this place is quick to recognise, including in particular the Hon. Mr Terry Stephens. These challenges do allow them to have the opportunity to get the fulfilment and satisfaction that comes with serving the community.

These are great jobs, which is why we are so keen to see the number of police officers increase. It will result in a safer community. It does come with expense, it does come with a challenge in trying to meet the recruitment objective, but I sincerely have confidence in the police commissioner to go about the task of realising that recruitment objective. Rest assured, it is something that I will be paying a lot of attention to for as long as I am fortunate enough to be in this position.