Page 3899 - Week 11 - Thursday, 24 November 2022
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ACT Policing—staffing
Mr Gentleman (in reply to a question and a supplementary question by Mr Hanson and Dr Paterson on Thursday, 20 October 2022):
The 702 in 2011-12 and 691 in 2021-22 are figures based on headcount as at 30 June of those years. As ACT Policing’s numbers fluctuate throughout the year relative to the number of transfers to AFP National and recruit commencement in ACT Policing, using average FTE figures provides a more accurate comparison of police numbers:
There are a number of factors that contribute to the perception that sworn police numbers have not increased in ACT Policing over the past 10 years. The main factor is the transfer of 47 police FTE in 2015-16 to the Specialist Response Group (SRG) and Canine functions of AFP National. Additionally, in 2020-21 the ACT Watch House replaced police with 12 Protective Service Officer (PSO) positions.
The overall FTE staffing level in ACT Policing has increased by approximately 55 police, 13 PSOs and 39 unsworn positions over the past 10 years. The FTE related to enabling services purchased by Government from the AFP, has also increased by 23 in SRG and Canine and 32 across other enabling services.
More than half of the growth in the ACT Policing unsworn FTE derives from transferring unsworn members into operational support roles that were historically performed by police across a range of areas including Intelligence, Judicial Operations, Family Violence and Vulnerable People. This together with the introduction of PSOs into the ACT Watch House allows police to better shift their focus to frontline operational policing duties.
In the 2019-20 Budget, the ACT Government provided $33.9 million over four years to enable ACT Policing to commence the transition to a community focused model of policing.
This funding allowed the creation of 71 positions which includes 61 operational and 10 support positions. In 2022-23, ACT Policing intends to recruit the final 26 staff from this tranche of funding.
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