- Police recruits to receive special cost of living allowance on top of the recruit wage
- Waived live-in costs for recruits at the Police Academies and all recruit applicant pre-selection test fees to be waived
- $20,000 relocation allowance for interstate and overseas officers
- QPS and QPUE partnering to deliver recruitment advertising campaign
An unprecedented police recruitment campaign is stepping up another level with a boost in financial support to be provided to new recruits when they enter one of Queensland’s two Police Academies.
From today, new recruits will receive a special cost of living allowance on top of the current recruit wage paid during their almost eight month training course.
The allowance, $183 per fortnight, will boost a recruit’s wage to the equivalent of $52,000 per annum.
In addition, all accommodation costs at Police Academies will be waived, saving live-in recruits almost $200 per week.
Further to that, all police recruit application and pre-selection test fees will be waived.
In total, the waiving of all application and pre-selection test fees will save potential recruits between $718 – $972.
The cost-of-living allowance and the Police Academy accommodation waiver will boost the take home pay of live-in recruits undergoing training by hundreds of dollars every week.
The Queensland Police Service will also pay $20,000 towards the relocation costs of interstate and overseas applicants who are serving or recently served police officers.
Additionally, up to 400 successful police recruit graduates who hold a tertiary degree (Bachelor or above) in areas such as psychology, criminology, social work (or equivalent), counselling or other human service related field will be eligible to receive up to $20,000 paid of their HECS debt.
Furthermore, the Police Commissioner is introducing a scheme whereby existing non-sworn members of the Queensland Police Service who are successful in gaining entry to sworn officer recruit training will continue to be paid at their existing pay scale while training.
Upon graduation from the Police Academies, recruits will be sworn in as First Year Constables and receive a remuneration package which is considered to be one of the best in the nation. To further help strengthen the pipeline of applicants, two major marketing and advertising campaigns will also be launched in the coming months including a partnership advertising campaign between the QPS and the Queensland Police Union of Employees (QPUE). The Queensland Police Service is taking these steps to further boost recruitment efforts in what is a very tight labour market across all industry sectors and across the nation. Commissioner Carroll also announced today the QPS would create a new Assistant Commissioner position to enhance cultural capability and progress initiatives to improve relationships between QPS and First Nations communities.
The new position will represent First Nations officers and staff as a member of the QPS Executive Leadership Team. The role will be advertised this week.
Quotes attributable to Police Minister Mark Ryan:
“The government is making the biggest investment in policing in more than three decades to deliver more than 2,000 extra police personnel.
“These additional supports for new recruits will help the Queensland Police Service’s recruiting efforts in what is for all employers a challenging labour market.
“The Queensland Police Service has always been a great career choice, with so many diverse work streams and specialties ranging from Water Police to forensics and the Rural and Stock Crime Squad to name just a very few.
“I encourage Queenslanders, Australians and people overseas to seriously consider a rewarding and satisfying career with the Queensland Police Service.”
Quotes attributable to Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll:
“The Queensland Police Service is a great organisation to work for.
“So many of our members spend their entire working life with QPS such is the diversity of work you can undertake.
“We are also making it easier for civilian members of the QPS to become sworn officers.
“We have decided that an existing civilian member of the QPS who is accepted into the academy to undertake sworn officer training will continue to be paid at their existing pay point while they are training.
“This will make it much more financially viable for civilian staff to undertake sworn officer training.”
“We also continue to focus on applicants with diverse backgrounds and life experience which reflects all of Queensland, therefore applicants living in rural and remote areas have opportunities to go on to serve in the communities they are from.
Quotes attributable to Queensland Police Union President Ian Leavers:
“Recruitment is a challenge affecting not only police but many other frontline roles and first responders but we cannot sit around and wait for a shift in employment patterns.
“It’s important to make policing a first choice option.
“The QPU has worked with the Palaszczuk Government to consider non-traditional ideas for recruitment.
“We have worked with the Premier, Police Minister and Treasurer over successive governments to improve wages, conditions and superannuation to make Queensland police the best paid in Australasia.
“So, let’s make sure potential recruits are aware of the benefits.
“I’m confident this campaign initiated by the Police Union will become a talking point in the community encouraging people to inquire.
“Policing can offer some good years to develop skills, help the community and set you up for another future career if your circumstances change while receiving good pay and benefits.”
Fast facts:
- Cost of living allowance for police recruits – $183 per fortnight
- All application and pre-selection test fees waived
- Police Academy accommodation costs waived
- $20,000 relocation allowance for interstate and overseas officers
- $20,000 HECs debt payment for up to 400 university graduates
