The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is trying to poach new recruits from interstate, offering to pay up part of the HECS debt of some university graduates who then go through the police academy, in a bid to bolster the thin blue line.
The $90 million recruitment drive to address police employment challenges includes a raft of incentives to lure officers to join Queensland police, like the service paying up to $20,000 for the relocation costs of police officers from interstate or overseas.
Up to 400 police recruit graduates who hold a university degree in areas such as psychology, criminology, social work, counselling or other human service-related fields will be able to receive up to $20,000 paid off their HECS debt.
New recruits will also receive a "cost of living" allowance of $183 per fortnight on top of their current recruit wage during the almost eight-month training course.
Police Minister Mark Ryan said it will boost a recruit's wage to the equivalent of $52,000 per annum.
"That's a significant increase and contrasts us with most other policing jurisdictions around Australia," he said.
"In fact, New South Wales don't even pay their recruits.
"So this supports people into a full-time role in the Queensland Police Service."
All accommodation costs at the state's two police academies will also be waived for new recruits, which the state government says will save them almost $200 per week. Police recruit application and pre-selection test fees will also be waived.
Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said the incentives were a "game changer" and it would help address employment challenges.
"We've never had such offerings before for people coming through the academy and into our organisation," she said.
"We've been quiet up front that in the last several months with the labour markets, the retirements and low attrition … that we have to do things very, very differently to get more people through our academy, to get more people into our organisation over the next few years."
Changes follow formal inquiry
Last year, a Commission of Inquiry looking at Queensland police responses to domestic violence found a "failure of leadership" allowed cultural issues within the service to fester "unchecked" for years.
The inquiry heard evidence of racist and sexist behaviour among officers, including senior officials.
Commissioner Carroll said QPS was implementing the inquiry's recommendations and was working to be a more inclusive and diverse organisation.
Police Union president Ian Leavers said a lot of work had been done to offer what young people value in a job.
"There was a traditional campaign and with all due respect we looked at it, and it had police going around in helicopters in the sky, German Shepard police dogs barking, police in laboratories – that's all good but it doesn't resonate with the target group and the people we want to recruit," he said.
"So we went to young people and we tested it – and what do young people care about? They care about money and lifestyle.
"As a first-year constable, your package will be over $100,000 a year for a 38-hour week, seven weeks recreation leave, an RDO every 28 days, generous sick leave — and it's a job that can take you across Queensland."
According to QPS, police recruits currently receive an allowance of $1,811.53 gross per fortnight. The starting salary of a first-year constable is $84,310 per annum, which is made up of $67,516 plus a 21 per cent operational shift allowance (OSA).
It's the latest measure from the state government to boost the frontline after it launched a global recruitment drive earlier this year for hundreds of officers to join the force. QPS has received 300 applications from overseas as a result.
Commissioner Carroll said there were 950 police officers "in the pipeline" to join the force, plus 350 young recruits at the academy.
