South Australia Police has achieved its target to recruit 50 per cent female officers
CHANGING an “outdated” fitness test, marketing directly to women and promoting on-the-job stories from female officers have helped SA Police achieve its 50/50 recruitment target.
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CHANGING an “outdated” fitness test, marketing directly to women and promoting on-the-job stories from female officers has helped SA Police achieve its 50-50 recruitment target.
Figures released to The Advertiser show 178 cadets who began training last financial year were women — exactly the same number as male cadets.
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens first announced the 50-50 recruitment target in December, 2015, and the policy took effect on January 1, 2016.
Previously, women made up about 30 per cent of applications.
SA was the first state to adopt an equality target for its police force.
At the time, the police union warned that the “rigid” policy had “little if any support among rank and file officers”.
Police Association of SA president Mark Carroll said women stayed in the force an average seven to eight years - about half the average length of time men served - and not enough was done to address the turnover.
However, Mr Carroll did not comment on the news that SA Police had met its 50/50 recruitment target for the first time.
Probationary Constable Sarah Day was among the 2016-17 female recruits.
She told The Advertiser she applied in order to challenge herself “mentally and physically” and to work with young people “so they grow up trusting the police”.
“There are more females in SAPOL than ever before,” she said.
“It is a challenging career, but if you want to push yourself, and continually learn new skills then it is a great career option — there is something for everyone.”
SA Police Assistant Commissioner, Human Resource Service, Linda Fellows said the force made changes including redesigning “an outdated physical testing model” which had not been evaluated “for many years” and marketing directly to potential female recruits.
Changes to policing culture were clearly needed, highlighted by a 2016 audit found a “boys club” culture, sexism, sexual harassment and predatory behaviour was rife among the workforce.
Sexist jokes, leering, unwanted advances and alleged rape were among a raft of incidents revealed by almost 2000 SA Police officers and staff — representing a third of the total force — who participated in the Equal Opportunity Commission review.
Ms Fellows said many women “hadn’t previously considered policing as a career option”.
“However, in many cases, the focus on recruiting more women caught their attention,” she said.
“We held women-only seminars where women could come along and just hear about what it was like for a woman in SAPOL and what job options there were.
“We had our own women police officers telling stories of their positive experiences in a policing career.”
Ms Fellows said SA Police was promoting traditionally male-held roles — such as in STAR Group, driver training, police motorcycle units and dog operations — to female recruits.
“We are also developing our female leaders to enable them to compete equally with men for promotion,” she said.
Freedom of Information figures obtained by The Advertiser reveal that, between 2012 and 2015, 75 per cent of police force applicants were men.
During the same period, there were 443 men — or 72 per cent — among the 615 new officers recruited.