South Australia Police Officer of the Year Award

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:33): My question is to the Attorney-General. Will the minister inform the council about last year's South Australia Police Officer of the Year Award?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (15:33): I thank the honourable member for his question, and his interest in this area. I am very pleased to share with the council the recipient of the 2024 South Australia Police Officer of the Year Award, last year going to a resident from the South-East of South Australia. Naracoorte-based Senior Constable Chris Mailley has been named SA's Police Officer of the Year in recognition of his groundbreaking work to tackle the scourge of domestic violence in the South-East of our state.

Senior Constable Mailley has worked in SAPOL's Family Violence Investigation Section for many years and has demonstrated real leadership and passion for change in the community, having driven a community-led approach for dealing with victim survivors of domestic violence. His vision for a community-led program led to the launch of the Upper South-East Domestic Abuse Program, which provides domestic violence victim survivors with a facilitated pathway to exit life-threatening domestic violence situations. Senior Constable Mailley said that as police officers, and I will quote him:

We find ourselves dealing with very vulnerable people. This can be because of physical or sexual abuse, coercive control, child abuse or elder abuse: the reasons can be complex.

The program is fully self-funded with community donations and fundraising events supporting the program. Senior Constable Mailley originally hails from Birmingham in the UK where he was a police officer across many different high-intensity roles. It wasn't until 2009 that Senior Constable Mailley moved from the UK and settled in Naracoorte straightaway, feeling right at home with the community feel of a country town, and finding great fulfillment as a SAPOL officer. In a humble acceptance of his Police Officer of the Year award, Senior Constable Mailley said:

…this [award] belongs to the community: businesses, service groups, individuals, colleagues, and management team—there's just too many involved and that shows how much support there's been for the DV program and other initiatives we've set up.

I would like to thank Senior Constable Mailley for his work that is recognised in this award, and his leadership in the South-East community.

Domestic violence is everyone's problem and it is critical that the entire community, including police and other first responders, have a compassionate and supportive role in responding to victim survivors to ensure their safety.