❓ The Minister for Police provides data on female police officer numbers in WA, highlighting improvements since 2008 and ongoing efforts to increase female representation at all levels. Mentions WA is second-ranking jurisdiction for progress in recruiting female officers.
AnsweredQoN 148Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
POLICE —
FEMALE OFFICERS
148. Ms A.R. MITCHELL to the
Minister for Police:
Can the minister please clarify the percentage of women employed
within the police as police officers and can she also advise how this compares
with other jurisdictions?
FEMALE OFFICERS
148. Ms A.R. MITCHELL to the
Minister for Police:
Can the minister please clarify the percentage of women employed
within the police as police officers and can she also advise how this compares
with other jurisdictions?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Kingsley for this very pertinent
question, given that International Women's Day has just passed on
Sunday, which in this day and age is a fortnight's worth of
celebrations, and as we run out of days in the week in which to celebrate the
achievements of Western Australian women. I am sure members in the house would
be pleased to know that as at 30 June 2014 we had 1 366 sworn female police
officers in WA Police, which as I said yesterday is 22.1 per cent of the sworn
officer workforce. This is a substantial improvement. Members will be pleased
to note that when we came to office in 2008 that number was 1 114 sworn female
police officers, which is about 19.7 per cent of the sworn officer workforce.
That figure is still below what both the Commissioner of Police and I consider
is acceptable, and we are putting a considerable amount of effort into not only
increasing the number of women in WA Police, but also ensuring that they move
through to the executive level and through to commissioned officer level so
that they can play a part in setting the strategic direction for WA Police. We
are doing this by focusing on recruitment. Members have probably noticed that
our advertisements feature female police officers going about the work of
police. For continuous professional development, we engage in leadership
development and mentoring programs that are targeted through our women in
leadership strategy. We have acting opportunities for women in higher duties.
We are pursuing a national strategy for women in policing and we are
represented by a very fine assistant commissioner, Michelle Fyfe, who is our
representative on the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency forum.
What is really important to note, though, is that if we
compare ourselves with other jurisdictions, notably New Zealand and the other
states, we are now the second-ranking policing jurisdiction for the ground we
are making up and the progress we have made in recruiting female police
officers in the whole of the Australia and New Zealand region.
Mr J.R. Quigley interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Butler, I call you to order for the second time.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
When we came to government we went from being the sixth lowest to the second
highest as far as making up for lost ground in the recruitment of female police
officers.
Tonight I will attend a police graduation at which 58 police
officer recruits will graduate, and 14 of those are women.
Ms M.M. Quirk : How
many from multicultural backgrounds?
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
Member for Girrawheen, at the last police graduation I attended, there were 29
graduates, 13 of whom were women. Clearly, our policy of targeting women to
join the police is working.
This is one of our strategies to improve the gender pay gap
in Western Australia. We are looking also at flexible working arrangements for
police officers. But when we look at the public sector performance —
Ms L.L. Baker interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Maylands, I call you to order for the first time.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
Our performance in the public sector over the past 10 years has seen our
participation rate for women in the public sector rise from 63.8 per cent 10
years ago to 71.7 per cent now. The participation rate in the broader workforce
is around 43.6 per cent, so we are doing very well there. We are doing very
well with senior executive management in the public sector. Our participation
rate has increased.
Ms L.L. Baker interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Maylands, I call you to order for the second time.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
Our participation rate has increased from 19.1 per cent in 2000 to 30 per cent
in 2014. This is not happening by accident. We have targeted policies in place.
Every single minister of cabinet is aware of those policies to facilitate,
promote and mentor women of talent and ambition within the public sector so
that they can move through to senior ranks. We will maintain our effort in that
space because we know it is important and we know that it is one of the
important strategies to address the gender pay gap in Western Australia.
question, given that International Women's Day has just passed on
Sunday, which in this day and age is a fortnight's worth of
celebrations, and as we run out of days in the week in which to celebrate the
achievements of Western Australian women. I am sure members in the house would
be pleased to know that as at 30 June 2014 we had 1 366 sworn female police
officers in WA Police, which as I said yesterday is 22.1 per cent of the sworn
officer workforce. This is a substantial improvement. Members will be pleased
to note that when we came to office in 2008 that number was 1 114 sworn female
police officers, which is about 19.7 per cent of the sworn officer workforce.
That figure is still below what both the Commissioner of Police and I consider
is acceptable, and we are putting a considerable amount of effort into not only
increasing the number of women in WA Police, but also ensuring that they move
through to the executive level and through to commissioned officer level so
that they can play a part in setting the strategic direction for WA Police. We
are doing this by focusing on recruitment. Members have probably noticed that
our advertisements feature female police officers going about the work of
police. For continuous professional development, we engage in leadership
development and mentoring programs that are targeted through our women in
leadership strategy. We have acting opportunities for women in higher duties.
We are pursuing a national strategy for women in policing and we are
represented by a very fine assistant commissioner, Michelle Fyfe, who is our
representative on the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency forum.
What is really important to note, though, is that if we
compare ourselves with other jurisdictions, notably New Zealand and the other
states, we are now the second-ranking policing jurisdiction for the ground we
are making up and the progress we have made in recruiting female police
officers in the whole of the Australia and New Zealand region.
Mr J.R. Quigley interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Butler, I call you to order for the second time.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
When we came to government we went from being the sixth lowest to the second
highest as far as making up for lost ground in the recruitment of female police
officers.
Tonight I will attend a police graduation at which 58 police
officer recruits will graduate, and 14 of those are women.
Ms M.M. Quirk : How
many from multicultural backgrounds?
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
Member for Girrawheen, at the last police graduation I attended, there were 29
graduates, 13 of whom were women. Clearly, our policy of targeting women to
join the police is working.
This is one of our strategies to improve the gender pay gap
in Western Australia. We are looking also at flexible working arrangements for
police officers. But when we look at the public sector performance —
Ms L.L. Baker interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Maylands, I call you to order for the first time.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
Our performance in the public sector over the past 10 years has seen our
participation rate for women in the public sector rise from 63.8 per cent 10
years ago to 71.7 per cent now. The participation rate in the broader workforce
is around 43.6 per cent, so we are doing very well there. We are doing very
well with senior executive management in the public sector. Our participation
rate has increased.
Ms L.L. Baker interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Maylands, I call you to order for the second time.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
Our participation rate has increased from 19.1 per cent in 2000 to 30 per cent
in 2014. This is not happening by accident. We have targeted policies in place.
Every single minister of cabinet is aware of those policies to facilitate,
promote and mentor women of talent and ambition within the public sector so
that they can move through to senior ranks. We will maintain our effort in that
space because we know it is important and we know that it is one of the
important strategies to address the gender pay gap in Western Australia.
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