South Australian police force reaches record 4,700 in 2018 with more diversity in switch to local-only recruiting

Digital tablets have equipped South Australian police officers with a mobile office.
Image courtesy Panasonic

A renewed push in 2016 to recruit more South Australian police achieved its target in 2018, bringing force numbers to a record 4,700. The strategy to attract 313 recruits was driven by increasing jobs for South Australians, with SAPOL ending interstate and overseas recruitment.

The recruitment of 313 gave South Australia has more police officers per person than any other state. During the largest ever recruitment drive in 2016-17, 353 cadets started training at the police academy. Of the new cadets, 178 (50%) were female, 75 (21%) were youth, 19 (5%) were from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and nine (3%) were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. T

he South Australian government’s recruiting drive was funded in 2016 after the Police Association of South Australia protested that the promised extra officers by 2014 had been pushed back to 2016, then 2018 and finally 2020.  Police commissioner Grant Stevens also conceded hopes of a 50/50 gender balance for the new recruits might not be achieved.

After talks between the union and police minister Peter Malinauskas, funding to accelerate recruiting of the 313 extra officers was increased to $51.5 million in the government’s December 2016 mid-year budget review. A new cadet wage for recruits aged under 21 was also promised. The SAPOL recruitment campaign, See Yourself in Uniform and Achieve More, attracted a significant increase in applications to the organisation, especially from women.

Under SA Police’s workplace diversity strategy, applications also were being encouraged from Aboriginal  and Muslim communities. Market research revealed that, among potential applicants, key appeal factors of a career in policing included the flexibility of shift work, the teamwork approach and highly competitive pay.