Police Retention and Recruitment

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:00): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking questions of the Minister for Industrial Relations regarding police wages in South Australia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: Earlier this week, we heard that South Australia Police had sworn in the first 15 recruits from its $12 million international, interstate and local recruitment drive to urgently boost the numbers in our force. The most recent Productivity Commission's Report on Government Services indicated that South Australia currently has 238 sworn operational officers per 100,000 people.

Given the Australian Bureau of Statistics projects our state's population will reach two million by approximately 2030, an additional 401 sworn operational officers will need to be recruited over just the next six years in order just to maintain the current ratio of police officers to residents of South Australia.

It was announced earlier this week that police in New South Wales are set to be the best paid in the nation due to a wage increase of up to 40 per cent over four years under a new agreement negotiated between the Police Association of New South Wales and the New South Wales state government. I know it is a little bit of a stretch in terms of the minister's direct responsibilities, but given the importance to the state I put this matter to him seeking a response:

1. Does the minister view this situation as a threat to maintaining and indeed improving our police force representation numbers here in South Australia?

2. If so, what can and will be done about it and what other measures does the state government have at its disposal in order to improve retention rates and thus maintain or indeed ideally increase our police numbers here in South Australia?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:01): I thank the honourable member for his question and his consistent concern about community safety in South Australia, including making sure the police have the resources and personnel they need to do their job in keeping us safe.

If I am remembering correctly, and I am happy to double-check this, the last report for around February, the RoGS—Report on Government Services—had South Australia sitting at the highest of any state in terms of sworn police officers per head of population, a very significant achievement and investment by the government in police officers in South Australia.

I think it is no secret at all—it is well documented, and you see it publicly very regularly—that for a number of years there has been an exceptionally tight labour market right around Australia in a whole range of areas. I don't think there have been many areas at all that have been immune. Recruitment is a challenge, there is absolutely no doubt about that.

I know there have been significant recruitment campaigns, particularly in the UK, to recruit police officers to come to South Australia, with I think quite a deal of success, over recent months and years. I think senior police officers have in recent months themselves visited the UK as part of that campaign, and we look forward to that paying dividends for South Australia.

So while wages is one factor—and I know the Hon. Robert Simms has asked a number of times about comparative wages as enterprise agreements are struck in other jurisdictions around Australia compared to South Australia, and of course that is something we will keep track of—there are many, many other reasons that make South Australia a fantastic place for people to come and work in and particularly to recruit for from other jurisdictions like the UK.

There is a tremendous amount of work being done, but I know there is more work to do. But it is heartening, as I think the figures were from the last Report on Government Services—as I said, I believe we had the highest rate of sworn officers of any state per head of population in the country.