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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-05-09 Daily Xml
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Equal Opportunity Commission

The Hon. S.G. WADE (15:24): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Police a question about the Equal Opportunity Commission.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: In December last year, the Equal Opportunity Commission completed an independent review into sex discrimination, sexual harassment and predatory behaviour within SA Police. One of the key findings of the report was that women felt discriminated against when they were pregnant and when seeking to return to work after pregnancy. Many female police officers felt that they had to choose between being a parent and a rewarding career, often having to give up rank, pay and previously held specialised roles in order to have their requests for part-time work accommodated on their return from maternity leave.

My question to the minister is: as SAPOL pursues its fifty-fifty gender recruitment strategy, how does SAPOL intend to address the Equal Opportunity Commission's report in order to both retain female staff and to reflect community values and diversity?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:25): Again, I thank the honourable member for his question. This is an important area that the police commissioner himself has established a report into. I think it is well known that for some time SAPOL has been an organisation that has predominantly employed men. I think it is extremely commendable that the police commissioner has been proactive in trying to ensure that our police force, in every respect, adequately reflects the community it serves.

I have spoken in this place before about the number of public policy benefits that are associated with having a police force that represents the diversity of the community it serves. That is particularly true in respect to gender and that is why this government applauds the action of the police commissioner and has been working proactively with the police commissioner to facilitate him in having a fifty-fifty recruitment target and strategy existing with SA Police. I have to say that it has been fantastic to see that policy unfold before my own eyes. I regularly attend police graduation ceremonies and it is clearly self-evident, if one has gone to a graduation ceremony at SAPOL recently, that there is an ever-increasing number of women represented as recruits. This will be particularly put on show as the Recruit 313 target is realised by SAPOL and the government over coming months.

As part of the government and SAPOL's desire to ensure that women are attracted to not just apply to work in the police force but also to continue to serve in the police force, the police commissioner took it upon himself in April last year to ask the Equal Opportunity Commission to conduct a review of South Australian police to get a clearer picture of the extent of sex discrimination, sexual harassment and predatory behaviour within the police force. That review was handed down approximately six months later in December of last year.

I think it is utterly commendable that SAPOL decided to act proactively and took it upon themselves to initiate this review. It was not what we have seen in other instances. I can think of the Australian Defence Force, for instance, where reviews have been called as a response to information coming to light. This exercise was undertaken under the initiation of SAPOL to have a thorough look at what was occurring. There were 38 recommendations out of the initial report handed down in December last year, aimed at strengthening SAPOL's workplace culture and, indeed, promoting gender diversity. Since that time, recommendations are being addressed in an attempt to prioritise the urgency of response, depending on the particular recommendation.

The commissioner has established an internal project team to manage the implementation of the recommendations and that is being headed by Assistant Commissioner Bryan Fahy. Assistant Commissioner Fahy is a distinguished police officer who has served South Australia for many years and brings to that role a seniority that is consistent with the importance of addressing the recommendations that were made as a result of the review. Some of those recommendations are already being implemented.

There have been some immediate actions. I am happy to touch on three immediate actions. One was to publish a statement endorsed by all members of the executive that acknowledges that sexual harassment and sex discrimination is unacceptable, and apologises for the significant distress caused to victims and bystanders. That, of course, has been completed.

Another one was to establish a restorative engagement project, and SAPOL has commissioned and funded this to run and manage the process, and also establish a new externally provided safe space, and this action has now been completed as well. So, SAPOL is in the process of implementing those recommendations quickly; that is as appropriate. It is also implementing other recommendations through the program or the unit that is being led by Assistant Commissioner Bryan Fahy.

Regarding retention policies for women generally, naturally I am in regular conversation with the Police Association of South Australia, which does an outstanding job in advocating the interests of all its members, including female members and members to be. If the Police Association of South Australia or other interested bodies have views about things that can be done to continue to improve the accessibility and attractiveness of working at SAPOL, then that is something that will always be of interest to the government.

Principally, we think that the police commissioner and SAPOL generally are on the right track to ensuring that this important strategic objective, of having a large number of women working in the South Australian police force, is realised.

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