The state government will spend nearly $37 million on measures that will free up the workload of over 100 police officers and staff, allowing them to focus more on operational tasks.
As part of the 2024 to 2025 State Budget, the government is allocating $19 million over four years towards creating and implementing a digital police station for SAPOL.
The digital station will introduce an online system that allows the public to report non-urgent matters, without having to physically visit a police station. This includes requests such as national police certificate requests, freedom of information requests, vehicle collision reports, and payments for clamping and impounding. It will also host the public child sex offender register.
Expected to be fully up and running by 2027 to 2028, the digital police station will create efficiencies equivalent to 47 SAPOL police officers and staff over the next four years, meaning affected officers can dedicate more time to policing duties.
A further $8.5 million over four years has been allocated to speed up the establishment of a telephone resolution desk. Originally set for funding from 2026 to 2027, the project’s timeline has been brought forward by two years.
The telephone resolution desk will allow police to handle complaints over the phone, reducing the need for them to attend non-emergency incidents, while maintaining public safety and service standards. To support this, SAPOL will hire 31 administrative call takers, freeing up police officers from any telephone resolution duties.
There will also be $9.3 million over four years that will go towards hiring up to 24 people for corporate or administrative roles within SAPOL, aiming to further relieve police officers from administrative tasks and allowing them to focus on operational duties.
“Community safety is a top priority. The 2024-25 State Budget builds on last year’s investment to recruit more Police Security Officers by funding new initiatives to see even more police on the front line,” Treasurer Stephen Mulllighan says.
“We have recruited dozens of additional police officers over the past year and this budget will complement and expand on those efforts,” Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services Dan Cregan says.
“The new measures will free up the equivalent of more than 100 police officers and staff, enabling them to get on with core police work and keep the community safe.”
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