More than 1,000 newly graduated police officers will start work across metro, regional and rural NSW this year - the largest number of recruits in two years to attest the Goulburn Police Academy and a major boost to frontline policing and community safety.
This follows December's notable attestation with more than 300 officers - the largest class in a decade - attesting and starting work at their new home stations across the state.
Applications to join the NSW Police Force (NSWPF) have increased by more than 60 per cent since the Minns Labor Government announced paid study in October 2023 - with 3,360 people applying to join the NSWPF.
Last year, the NSW Government introduced the 'Be A Cop in Your Hometown' initiative, allowing recruits from rural areas to serve in or near their hometowns after graduating from the Goulburn Police Academy. The next class to graduate will be the first to benefit from this new scheme.
Today, we are pleased to report that 47 individuals have applied to return to regional locations under the program, and all will be deployed to these areas upon graduating from the Goulburn Police Academy.
In the next class to graduate, nine recruits-seven men and two women-will be eligible to return to regional locations they have nominated, followed by another 23 in the class after that.
Among them, one recruit is a mother of five who will be returning to her hometown of Coffs Harbour, and another is a father and daughter training together from Inverell.
Under 12 years of the former Liberal Government, they had no plan for police recruitment, no plan for police retention and sent wages backwards for more than a decade.
In fact, police officer turnover, more than doubled in the last term of the Liberal National Government, from 513 per year to more than 1286 per year.
While we still have more work to do, this application and graduate data shows that the Minns Labor Government has been able to begin to arrest the slide in recruitment for New South Wales police.
These initiatives are part of the Government's broader, long-term plan to address the crisis in recruitment and retention of frontline workers, especially in law enforcement, and ensure the safety of our communities.
This includes important initiatives including:
- Abolishing the wages cap, ensuring fair and competitive salaries for police officers;
- Delivering a historic wage increase, overwhelmingly backed by NSW Police officers with 96 per cent voting in favour;
- Establishing a groundbreaking scheme to pay students while they study to become officers, resulting in a 67 per cent surge in applications over the past year; and
- Launching two new targeted programs to attract both experienced officers and regional recruits.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said:
"When we entered Government, we committed to rebuilding frontline services, and I'm proud to say we're making real progress in restoring our police force.
"It's a big job, it's a very tough job, and we know how important police officers are, often risking their lives to keep us safe.
"There's still more work to do, but we've shown we're prepared to take strong steps to back in our police force."
Minister for Police and Counter-Terrorism Yasmin Catley said:
"These results show that the strategies we've put in place are working and that we are making real progress in addressing the recruitment and retention challenges that have long plagued the NSW Police Force.
"While there's more work to be done, we are confident that the tide is changing. We are attracting new recruits, retaining experienced officers, and making policing a more rewarding and attractive career.
"This is just the beginning, and we will continue to build on this momentum to ensure that our police force is equipped and supported to keep our communities safe."
NSW Police Commissioner, Karen Webb said:
"I am enormously proud of these numbers, they are a turning point as we plan for the next generation of police in NSW.
"Police in NSW have never had better pay and conditions - now is the perfect time to become a police officer.
"We will strategically fill critical positions where they are needed most, some of that focus will be on police numbers in regional towns as we face an escalating issue around youth crime."
