Queensland police stress leave soars as more than 2000 officers off duty
Queensland Police data reveals a shocking surge in officers seeking psychological help, with sources describing the organisation as "plummeting to earth" from mounting pressures.
More than 2000 cops across Queensland took long-term psychological stress and sick leave last year, with cops on the ground saying police are struggling with PTSD.
Data from Queensland Police shows there were 650 cops who were absent from work due to psychological reasons for more than five working weeks last year.
The latest statistics also show 1355 police took sick leave for more than 25 days in the last financial year.
Sources told The Courier-Mail that increased workloads and carrying the load for external agencies took its toll on cops.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen our organisation in such a bad state, we are plummeting to earth.
“What we are seeing is police towards the end of their careers exiting the organisation on stress and sick leave.
“They are dead canaries in the coal mine, this is the indicator to show we’ve got an unhealthy organisation.”
Queensland Police Union Acting President Andy Williams said he could understand why run down cops were having to access sick leave.
“When you go to a place like Logan, and they’ve got up to 200 jobs outstanding, that would become overwhelming, and you’d need a break from that,” he said.
“And so I could see why you’d access your sick leave to do that. And I’d suggest that even older police are starting to become more modern in their approaches.
“Back, probably 15-20, years ago, you just wouldn’t take sick days. You’d come to work sick. Now there’s a recognition that if you need time off, you should take it.”
The data from Queensland Police showed there had been an increase in people taking psychological leave with 650 in the last financial year, compared to 524 in 2021-22.
While 355 more people took long-term sick leave in the last financial year compared to 21-22.
The North Coast region was the area that took the highest amount of long-term sick leave with 222 officers have time off, compared to 213 at the South Eastern Region and 202 in the Brisbane region.
People within the Brisbane region took the highest amount of stress leave with 116 – followed by 115 in the South Eastern region.
Mr Williams said the latest stress leave statistics showed how many police were needing to access it.
“The Queensland police union advocated and achieved presumptive legislation for PTSD, which effectively meant that first responders would essentially be believed when they came forward with a PTSD diagnosis, and they wouldn’t have to go through the work cover fight that they previously had to,” he said.
“I think what that’s done is made looking after your mental health as normal as a broken arm or a pulled hamstring.
“It’s a good thing that where police are seeing that their mental health isn’t where it should be, that they’re seeking help early, rather than trying to continue to push through it and probably exacerbate their illness.”
Police Minister Dan Purdie said attrition was the lowest in three years.
“Under Labor, police were leaving in droves with unplanned attrition soaring to 3.3 per cent. It is now at its lowest level in three years, falling to 2.8 per cent, backed by improvements in workplace safety, support services and a return to core policing – not Labor’s mission creep that pushed officers to breaking point,” he said.
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Originally published as Queensland police stress leave soars as more than 2000 officers off duty
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