Catley wants to support shop workers, but not with the police protection they need
NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley has refused to back a specialised NSW police task force and tough measures that have been proven to cut retail crime in the ACT.
NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley has refused to back a specialised NSW police task force and tough measures that have been proven to cut retail crime in the ACT.
Woolworths has revealed the measures would have stopped the worst offender in its NSW stores from committing 56 aggressive and erratic incidents including pulling a knife on frightened staff.
This week the ACT Police unveiled Operation Retail with specialised police targeting abuse and assaults on retailers and enforcing Workplace Protection Orders to keep repeat offenders out of stores.
The Daily Telegraph’s Stop Shop Abuse campaign has backed retailers’ calls to roll out the measures nationally after more than 800,000 abusive and aggressive incidents against shop staff were reported in the last year.
But Ms Catley refused to support introducing the desperately needed measures to protect staff in crime plagued NSW stores and ducked the issue by saying police are “working with those peak bodies in the retail sector”.
Pushed on the question of a specialised task force she equivocated: “I let police make operational decisions like that.”
In her inaugural speech to parliament Ms Catley thanked shopworkers union the SDA for its support but is not supporting its members with the union saying “more is required” to keep shop workers safe.
National Secretary Gerard Dwyer said: “The SDA has been pressing for increased police visibility around supermarkets and at shopping centres as customer abuse and violence has risen to epidemic levels.”
“More needs to be done to make work and shopping safe for frontline retail workers and customers alike,” he said.
Peak body the Australian Retailers Association applauded the “leadership” of the ACT Government in taking the initiative and making the police resources available.
“Retail crime is at crisis point and we need to protect our frontline teams,” she said. “A permanent, dedicated retail police taskforce is a vital part of the solution we would like to see in all states and territories.”
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data found that in NSW almost half of all theft was from retailers with 52,862 victims. “That’s why we are calling for focused police resources and workplace protections orders,” the ARA spokeswoman said.
Woolworths has also called for Workplace Protection Orders, which stop repeat offenders from coming back to stores, and a police taskforce to be introduced in NSW.
It said one offender had been involved in 106 incidents in stores since June 2024 with more than half of them aggressive and 98 a blatant breach of toothless banning orders.
Woolworths’ Head of Violence Prevention Sarah Faorlin said the ACT Government had led the way on WPOs which had reduced violence in stores particularly from repeat offenders.
“Stores, and team members, around the country will be safer if other State and Territory governments act urgently in introducing similar Workplace Protection Orders. The orders are a proven deterrent in preventing abusive and violent behaviour,” she said.
ACT Acting Superintendent Anthony Brown said the ACT has WPO’s, reporting on every incident via online platform Aurora and now a team of investigators behind the scenes analysing that footage and putting together a brief of evidence against repeat offenders.
“The big thing we are doing now is investigating crime behind the scenes,” he said. “We are getting CCTV and reports of every incident from retailers. We are then putting that together and bringing a case against recidivist offenders where we can show a court a brief of $6 or $7,000 worth of theft rather than just a couple of cans of lager.
“That is a criminal offence on top of any WPO a shop may put in place against an offender.
“Crooks learn what can help them get away and if they know the threat of violence will make a shop worker back off then they do that. Once we catch these repeat offenders it stops them and others from doing that,” he said.
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