6 February 2025
A statement from Police Federation of Australia CEO Scott Weber APM:
Australia’s Police are calling for urgent action by the Albanese government to fix a national police recruitment and retention crisis, as vacancies in the ranks blow out to more than 7000 unfilled positions across Australia.
The Northern Territory Police Association (NTPA), with the Police Federation of Australia, is calling for urgent and major improvements in working conditions to boost recruitment numbers and prevent more burnt-out officers quitting their jobs.
Our campaign argues that police should be immediately granted three federal government benefits, some of which are already enjoyed by other frontline workers like public hospital nurses, paramedics and defence personnel.
The benefits are:
• Fringe benefit tax (FBT) concessions reforms of up to $17,000, in line with public hospital and ambulance service workers
• Earlier access to superannuation at 55 years to reflect the significant physical and mental impacts from long careers in policing
• Introduction of a Blue Card covering medical and allied health services, to match the concessions available to Australian Defence Forces.
The Federal government continues to call on police to do more. It’s time for them to invest in our police forces.
NTPA President Nathan Finn said such benefits were urgently needed at a time when police resources were being stretched to the limit amid growing community concerns about crime and safety.
“The number one issue here in the Territory is crime. You cannot solve this issue with a burnt-out, overworked and under-resourced police force.
"The Northern Territory Police Force continues to grapple with a retention crisis - it is so bad that we cannot even get a clear vacancy figure from our police executive.
"These benefits that we are asking of the Federal Government, coupled with a strong and fair pay offer from the CLP Government, would go a long way in helping grow and retain our police members.
“You can’t improve police retention and recruitment without improving police working conditions.”
