QLD Police to trial new rosters on Gold Coast under Futures program

Rosters will change in a major restructure for police on the Gold Coast under a program which could be replicated across Queensland if successful. Here’s what it means for frontline officers.

Police rosters on the Gold Coast will undergo a major shake-up as the force battles an escalating workload and officer burnout.

Under the ‘Futures’ program the majority of frontline officers will see rosters change, with greater resources deployed to areas where demand is growing fastest.

A similar program is being worked on in the North Brisbane District, with the changes expected to be replicated Queensland-wide if successful.

Senior police management has begun consulting with the Gold Coast’s 1100-plus officers on the changes, which are expected to come into effect in January.

Assistant Commissioner Brian Swan said the changes would be implemented in a “measured” way.

“When it comes to allocation of staff, there’s not going to be an upheaval of stations and tipping people out of stations. We’ll do this in a measured and considered way according to the evidence,” he said.

“It may be that as a vacancy comes up in one area, well that position that’s now vacant, we’ll move that to a different location.”

Assistant Commissioner Brian Swan. Picture: Nigel Hallett.

Assistant Commissioner Swan said the plan took account of the demands placed on officers by different job types, saying it was about “getting the balance right” when deciding how to allocate resources.

“We have the Safe Night Precincts and it gets very busy around the weekend at certain times - it’s a high volume sort of work where you’ve got large crowds. The types of issues you deal with are more public order type policing, making sure people are safe, are behaving themselves,” he said.

“ ... You compare that to the northern part of the city where a lot of their demand isn’t that public order type policing, but is the really complex domestic and family violence matters they might get called to attend. Jobs that can take a lot of time to resolve.

“ ... We do need to get the balance right. There are some areas that we’ve identified through this work that are under much more pressure than others.”

Acting Inspector Rob Finlay, who led the team working on the project, said there were currently different rostering systems in different areas of the Gold Coast with varying shift lengths.

He said input from officers would determine the shape of the new rosters before they were trialled from January.

“We want to get that equality across the district through the workload, and get a system that works for the officers that’s spread out fairly,” he said.

“But it’ll be bottom up. We’re working with the team, showing them some of the demand that we’ve identified and we’re getting all their feedback from their own personal experience.

“ ... This is the important piece. We’re a united workforce on the Gold Coast. We work together to support each other.”

The rosters of frontline police will change under the Futures program. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

Acting Inspector Finlay said that in devising a better system the Futures team had consulted with agencies such as the Queensland Ambulance Service, examined rostering in other Australian police forces and brought in independent consultants. Enterprise Bargaining Agreements had also been taken into consideration.

He said staff welfare was a key concern addressed by the project, which would be continually reviewed and was about “putting people in the right place at the right time”.

“The workload is increasing for our police so that’s why we’re trying to address understanding our workload, where are the pressure points, and have we got the staff aligned to that,” he said.

“Because if we’ve got a huge demand in a certain time yet we don’t have enough rostered in that time then they’re going to carry the burden for everyone else. It’s going to lead to impacts on them.

“So we want to look at that and get that right, which is where we’ve partnered up with north Brisbane, which is doing a similar thing.”

The rollout of the Futures project comes in the wake of a 2023 workplace survey that highlighted the strain on frontline officers and demands in areas such as Burleigh for a greater police presence.

Assistant Commissioner Swan said the changes were designed to better combat workplace fatigue, amid a high number of officers off on long term sick leave.

“We (need) a system of rostering people that allows people to manage their fatigue, feel supported at work, that they don’t feel that it’s a busy Saturday night and we seem to be the only ones doing jobs tonight,” he said. “That there are people working at the right times supporting each other.

“ ... Success (of the Futures program) looks like a safer community and a better supported workforce.”

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Originally published as QLD Police to trial new rosters on Gold Coast under Futures program