Spelling & Numeracy Cut From SAPOL Recruit Tests

SA Police Union President Wade Burns joins Graeme Goodings on FIVEAA.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, I see that SAPOL has lowered the bath or
prospective recruits, Saypole in fact, revised its recruitment standards over
a period of years. They've done it to going way
back into the night. These height restrictions were abolished, you
may recall, to promote diversity and align with anti discrimination laws. Previously,
men had to be one hundred and seventy eight meters
or no meters centimeters women one hundred and sixty seven

(00:23):
centimeters tall. There were rigid fitness requirements. They've been relaxed
to focus on practical ability rather than arbitrary benchmarks, and
our saypolers scrapped spelling and numerous e tests to boost recruitment.
These changes reflect a broader push to modernized entry standards
and attract a more diverse applicant pool. So what is
the thought of the of the Police Association? Wade Burns

(00:45):
joins us. Now, Wade, good morning to.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
You, Good morning Graham. How are you?

Speaker 1 (00:48):
Yeah? Look well? Thanks? Were you consulted before these moves
were made?

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, certainly we our members have reached out to us
in relation to these changes, and some of our members
are certainly alarmed that there's well established links between language,
literacy and numeracy skills and certainly those links to essential
police officer qualities such as I guess, problem solving, decision making,
critical thinking, and effective communication as well.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
So when it comes to numeracy and literacy, you know,
what are your feelings? You know, we are happy with
the way they were. Are they only being done so
we can boost the recruiting numbers? Well?

Speaker 2 (01:27):
I think that's part of our concern is that obviously
in the recent state budget there's an extra three hundred
and twenty six sworn police officer positions that have been announced,
and I think quite clearly that it's a reasonable expectation,
both from our members and the essay community, that safe
should be reaching those newly funded positions with absolutely zero
compromises on recruiting standards.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
What feeling do you think is within the force now
to those that have had to fulfill existing requirements, How
do you think the average rank and file police officer
would about it?

Speaker 2 (02:02):
I think generally the sentiment is there's a need for
additional police officers. That is without question, our members are
working harder in tougher conditions than ever before. But certainly
the feedback that's come through to us is they don't
want to see a lowering of quality. It's simply that
there's extra positions that need to be filled, but there
needs to be a balance of quantity and quality and

(02:22):
our members want to see competent police officers graduating working
in patrol cars with them to continue to serve the
South Australian community.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
And how has the recent recruiting been going well?

Speaker 2 (02:34):
As of information yesterday, South Australia Police are one hundred
and nine position short of their funded establishment numbers, so
attrition is still high. There has been some catch up,
but they're still operating at about one hundred and ten
positions short. So our push really is to ensure that
the people who are working in policing today actually stay

(02:57):
in the job tomorrow. So looking after the existing our
members and certainly ensuring that quality applicants are coming into
Saypole who are willing to have longer careers in policing.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
What is the average life expectancy of an office in
terms of coming into the force that in their early
twenties or so, what stage are they leaving the force?

Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yeah, certainly, Traditionally policing has been a lifetime or a
career of many decades. I'm aware of people who've recently
retired with nearly forty seven, forty eight years of service.
We're not seeing that anymore now, though, we're seeing people
leave between that sort of seven to ten year mark,
and at that point they've become confident, they're moving into
supervisory or leadership duties, and it's certainly really important that,

(03:43):
Saypole places a great emphasis on looking after, retaining, developing
those members so that they stay in policing longer.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
What are the principal reasons why officers are leaving earlier? Graham?

Speaker 2 (03:56):
As you'd well know, policing is a tough gig. The
workload has increased, the complexity of the taskings that police
attend has got greater, there's fewer police doing more work,
and really it is a job that can take its
toll where people before we're police, and we're seeing people
who've had that sort of seven to ten years of

(04:17):
experience then looking to move on to alternative careers. But
they're not age retiring, they're resigning and moving elsewhere. So
it's a tough job and it's really about rewarding, recognizing, valuing,
and investing in people to make sure that they are
equipped both physically and psychologically to undertake a long term
policing career.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
Wade Burns, thanks for your time, great to chat. Thanks Greame,
President of the Police Association of how the Straight of
Wade Burns