Investing in Tasmania Police and keeping our communities safe

Members,

The Rockliff Liberal Government continues to invest record amounts of funding into Tasmania Police to support our officers and keep our communities safe.

Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Management, Felix Ellis, said that the Report on Government Services again shows how Tasmania continues to exceed the national average for satisfaction in policing and sense of community safety, including that 78.3 per cent of Tasmanians were satisfied with the services provided by police compared to the national figure of 73.9 per cent.

“The belief that police perform professionally (83.9 per cent Tas/80.4 per cent Nat), police treat people fairly and equally (73.1 per cent Tas/63.6 per cent Nat) and the belief that police are honest (72 per cent Tas/66.5 per cent Nat) is a great vote of confidence in our hard-working Tasmania Police.

“Tasmania Police is now at a record 1443 police officers, nation-leading working arrangements and new stations and emergency management centres because the Rockliff Liberal Government has invested $768 million to re-build the service after the previous Labor-Green government sacked 108 officers and 25 per cent of the supporting state service.

“The RoGS show that the number of police per 100,000 people in Tasmania was the second highest in the country and well exceeded the national average (300 police per 100,000 people Tas/ 252 police per 100,000 Nat).

“Proudly, Tasmania leads the country with 41.6 per cent of female staff compared to the national average of 35.1 per cent.

“Having extra police has enabled us to resource the Crime and Intelligence Command, the Road Policing Service, and the new Family and Sexual Violence Command supporting our Arch Centres in Hobart, Launceston and soon in the North-West.

“With more constables available at our 24/7 stations serving their local communities, we have now transferred 10 of our Special Operation Group members to full-time work and we are on track to deliver our election commitment to have 20 full-time members in place by July 2024.

“We know Tasmania is one of the safest places to live, work and raise a family and the RoGS indicates Tasmanians felt safer at home and safer being outside during the day and night than people interstate.

“I know Tasmania Police strives every day to improve its performance, and the Rockliff Liberal Government will continue to be its strongest supporter,” Minister Ellis said.

/Public Release. View in full here.