Australian drive to poach gardaí with wage they’d take 19 years to reach here
AUSTRALIAN recruiters are seeking to poach serving gardaí, offering a move Down Under for a salary it would take Irish officers 19 years to attain.
The South Australia Police (SAPOL) force is looking to recruit around 200 serving gardaí and British forces members and said it has received dozens of expressions of interest from officers here already.
A jobs expo is taking place at a hotel in Dublin city centre later this month and organisers expect a significant number of serving gardaí to attend.
If officers decide to take the plunge and head away, they can earn between Aus$93,000 and Aus$108,000 (€56,300 to €65,300) per year before allowances and overtime. In comparison, it would take a garda 19 years to earn €59,000 per year.
The roles in Australia are being offered to those who have at least three years’ experience.
Successful candidates will spend 15 weeks in the training college in Australia. New
‘A large turnout is expected at expo’
recruits there take nine months to finish the programme.
SAPOL recruiter Aislinn Kavanagh, who is originally from Kilkenny, said there have been around 50 expressions of interest already in the project and expects a significant turnout to the expo on March 20.
She said: ‘The SAPOL team are expecting a very large turnout at the Dublin expo, with over 50 registrations received in the last 24 hours.
‘The normal programme will be up to nine months. It’s a mix of predominantly training at the academy and then you have some out phases. And then after the nine-month mark you graduate and you’re a fully fledged probationary constable.’
She continued: ‘For our transition programme, what we’re doing is taking your skills and making sure you know how to apply them in a South Australian legislative context. We’re going to have you out in the frontline in 15 weeks versus a nine-month programme for a normal recruit.
‘SAPOL promises a warm welcome for any Garda recruit in Adelaide, where there is a strong Irish community.’
She also said South Australia ‘continuously ranks as one of the most liveable places in the world, offering a quality education and healthcare system, a much lower cost of living than our eastern counterparts, a vibrant and thriving city life and beautiful beaches and parks’.
‘You can enjoy a friendly, laidback lifestyle and an enviable work-life balance,’ she added.
‘From the crystal-clear beaches and beautiful climate, the vibrant city of Adelaide with its thriving arts scene and world-class dining, the awardwinning wineries and the breathtaking landscapes, South Australia is a great place to live and raise a family.
‘For those with a sporting interest, they will have plenty of soccer and Gaelic football teams vying for their membership.’
Sources told the Irish Daily Mail the recruitment drive, while nothing new, is a headache amid An Garda Síochána’s current retention crisis.
One senior source said: ‘It’s happened before but there’s not much we can do. The depot isn’t going to be able to double a garda’s money overnight.
‘There’s also the other factors like the weather and pace of life, those sorts of things that we just can’t compete with.’
The number of Garda members who resigned last year was 164, which is 50% higher than in 2022 and just over six times greater than the number recorded in 2016. Many of those resigning are doing so in the first five years of service.