Today, the Australian Federal Police Association (AFPA) has sent a message to politicians regarding the ongoing pay, resourcing and enterprise agreement bargaining being conducted by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Federal Government.
AFPA President Alex Caruana said the current offer presented to date demonstrates the Federal Government and AFP leadership are not recognising the critical importance of AFP members and the hard work they do every day.
“With the current pay offer, which AFP members initially rejected, the AFP, Australian Public Service Commission and the Federal Government fail to recognise AFP members for their work and the toll this takes on them and their families. The AFP, as an organisation, achieves nothing without its members.
“AFP and AFPA members work tirelessly to protect the community. It’s a sad indictment that the Federal Government does not recognise this commitment nor truly appreciate what AFP members do, keeping the community and our politicians safe.
“You join a police service knowing that you’re at more risk of injury and death than a traditional worker. Unless the Government is naïve, and I don’t believe they are, they would know this, yet they treat AFP members like traditional public servants.
“What the Government fails to recognise is that AFP members prevent, detect and act on horrendous criminal activity such as human trafficking and slavery, child exploitation, extremist and terrorism actions, drug importations, and cyber-attacks while protecting politicians and dignitaries and guarding our nation’s key security locations, including AUKUS locations.
“These are the people that run towards danger while everyone else is bunking down or running away from it.” Mr Caruana said.
The AFPA is concerned about the future direction of the AFP, especially in the national security environment, with more critical infrastructure such as AUKUS establishments and Western Sydney Airport being developed.
AFPA President Alex Caruana said AFP members are critical to national security, given they work across the country in joint task forces with state and territory counterparts and on overseas deployments.
“Our members in the national security environment frequently tell us that there is a lack of resources and members on the ground with the national security environment becoming more complex and dangerous.
“If the Federal Government were serious about national security, they would ensure that AFP members have competitive wages against other government agencies and police services. Other agencies and police services are buoyed by the fact that AFP wages are behind the industry and use this to recruit experienced AFP appointees,” Mr Caruana said.
AFPA calculations show that if the Government maintains its current offer of 11.2 per cent over three years and the current consumer price index of 3.8 per cent doesn’t decrease over the next three years, AFP members’ pay packets will go backwards. AFPA calculations show that if the Government maintains its current offer of 11.2 per cent over three years and the current consumer price index of 3.8 per cent doesn’t decrease over the next three years, AFP members’ pay packets will be going backwards, compounding the last few years of very high inflation.
AFPA President Alex Caruana said that the current offer does not come close to recognising the physical and psychological toll that policing has on AFP members, and more needs to be done to recognise this.
“On a health front, the Federal Government, with their poor pay offer, fails to recognise that one in five police officers will develop complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They fail to recognise that the average age of death for a police officer is 66 years of age, while the Australian average life expectancy is 84 years of age. They fail to recognise that first responders are at higher risk of developing cancer. Studies also show that the divorce rate among police officers could be as high as 60-75%, significantly higher than the national average.
“If the Federal Government respected and appreciated AFP members, they wouldn’t have put them into the same pay category as traditional public servants. An 11.2 per cent pay rise is great for someone who works 8 to 4, Monday to Friday and enjoys the comfort of an office.
“An 11.2 per cent pay rise is not acceptable for someone that puts their life on the line protecting the community, works night shift and on weekends and under challenging conditions and is exposed to constant trauma while being highly scrutinised for the work they do.
“We are prepared to make this an election issue for the Federal Government. Law and order and national security will play a significant part in campaigning. We aren’t apprehensive about being at the forefront telling the community how the Government doesn’t show a position of strength on law and order and national security after disrespecting the AFP workforce with an unsatisfactory pay offer,” Mr Caruana said.
For comments:
AFPA Media and Government Relations Manager Troy Roberts – (02) 6285 1677 – troy.r@afpa.org.au
