Handout to boost police recruits
The Queensland Police Service will offer up to $20,000 to lure interstate officers to the state, in the latest move by the Palaszczuk government to boost cop numbers.
The new scheme will also include up to $20,000 being wiped off prospective officers’ HECS debt.
The QPS has struggled to strengthen officer numbers as forced retirements rise and the state government falls behind an election commitment to increase the size of the service by 1450 officers by 2025.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the new $90m package at regional parliament in Cairns on Tuesday morning to attract recruits and other trained officers from across the country.
“Officers trained in other jurisdictions internationally and within Australia who come to work in Queensland will receive up to $20,000 in staged payments,” she said.
“And students studying in targeted university courses in Queensland will also be able to claim up to $20,000 in staged payments.”
Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said the cash incentive was a game-changer as the force grappled with a broader work shortage.
“We’ve been quite upfront in the last several months with the labour market,” she said.
“With the retirements, the slightly higher attrition and the government commitments into the future, we have to do things very, very differently to get more people through our academy (and) to get more people into our organisation over the next few years.”
The announcement follows a suite of incentives to attract new officers to Queensland.