More than 300 NZ officers apply to work with Queensland Police

The Great Brain Drain: With New Zealand facing a significant exodus of professionals to Australia, Australia Correspondent Aziz Al Sa’afin investigates why, talking to the Kiwis behind the numbers.

New figures released by Stats NZ last week showed a net migration loss of 27,000 people across the ditch last year. That exodus was nearly double the net 14,600 who went to Australia in 2022.

And workers in some of our key service jobs, including police, are among those crossing the Tasman.

Exclusive figures released to 1News show in the last year, 322 New Zealand police officers applied to work in the state of Queensland alone.

Meet Constable Dion Nelson-Screen.

Once a New Zealand Police poster boy, he made the life-changing decision to move to Queensland.

"It's home forever. I love it here," he said.

Nelson-Screen is one of hundreds of Kiwi officers who have crossed the ditch for better opportunities.

"I don't see myself going back anytime soon."

In May 2023, Queensland's Police Service (QPS) launched a recruitment campaign targeting New Zealand officers.

It's pitch promised warmer days, higher pay, and a $22,000 relocation bonus. It highlighted the perks of moving to Queensland, including a starting salary of about $110,000 a year, with additional housing allowances.

A year on from that campaign, 1News asked Police Minister Mark Mitchell how many officers New Zealand had lost to Australia.

Mitchell admitted: "We don't have any clear numbers on that."

"Maybe 50-100?" he said.

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster was also asked at a police graduation ceremony in Wellington. He said: "We've got no evidence at the moment that we are losing large numbers."

Coster added: "We can only confirm that around 50 staff have had professional conduct checks by Australian forces and subsequently resigned from police."

But figures released to 1News revealed a different story.

Since the launch of the campaign, at least 322 Kiwi officers have applied to work in Queensland.

By October 2024, at least 69 Kiwi officers are expected to graduate from the 18-week PACE programme designed to retrain officers from other jurisdictions. Nelson-Screen will be one of them.

It can also be revealed that a further 138 applicants are already in the recruitment pipeline.

"I've got mates back in New Zealand who were at my station. Some of them said, 'Yeah, when I hit the two-year mark, I'm applying for Queensland,'" Nelson-Screen said.

In total there are currently 625 in its short training programme for overseas recruits and 2289 applicants from around the world, the highest in QPS history.

The figures released to 1News are Queensland-specific, with many more hundreds of Kiwi officers also applying for other states around Australia.

Just recently, New South Wales Police launched a campaign of their own asking for New Zealand officers to apply.

When officers from some other jurisdictions from around the world apply to the QPS, they have to pass a number of tests before their application is processed.

These include a psychological check, panel interview, medical and fitness assessment, vetting, background and community inquiries, as well as referee checks.

If they are accepted, they are required to enrol in a programme called Police Abridged Competency Education (PACE).

The 18-week programme is for applicants who are either currently serving or have previous frontline policing experience within the last five years.

Sergeant Lisa Duncan, who has worked in Queensland for 34 years, and whose job is retraining officers, said: "They have to learn about our laws and how we do processes and what our policies are.

"It can be like learning a new language," she said. "We call them affectionately our world police."

Nelson-Screen worked as an officer for Counties Manukau for five years, and was once included in New Zealand police recruitment campaigns.

He said when he did his retraining in Queensland, he was surrounded by other Kiwi officers from his squad who had also left.

"Most of us were from the same either district or same station," he said.

New officers in Queensland and the Northern Territory start at more than A$100,000 a year (approx $110,000), with a A$20,000 ($22,194) relocation bonus and housing allowance.

And Kiwi officers who go through the PACE programme can earn up to A$130,000 annually (approx $140,000) as a first year constable.

Meanwhile, a New Zealand police officer in training earns just over $56,000, rising to $75,000 in their first year.

Duncan said Kiwi officers moving to Queensland are also compensated for their rank.

"When they come over [whether] they've got three years experience versus 10 years experience, they will be remunerated for that."

In New South Wales, officers are also allowed to keep their rank when they move.

But while the incentives are good, Nelson-Screen admits there are major trade-offs for relocation, including leaving family as well as dealing with increased and more intense violence on the frontlines.

"There's definitely a lot more knife crime here. I've seen stabbings every day," he said.

"It seems like the youth are a bit more violent, a lot more home invasions, a lot more homicides. It's definitely different from back home where it was more car chases and ram-raids."

Police officers in Queensland are also required to carry a firearm on them at all times.

One problem both sides of the Tasman share is a workforce shortage, hence the focus on recruitment.

Minister Mitchell said: "The Australians have got big problems with their recruiting, that's why they've come here."

New Zealand is currently around 500 officers short, with the Government promising to fill the positions by next year.

And Mitchell is right, Australia’s shortage is more than four times that.

But, unsurprisingly, QPS broke recruitment records this year. A total of 136 new officers were sworn into the service in May, the largest intake to graduate in 26 years.

And the Queensland force says that figure is set to increase further with the growing number of Kiwi officers making the move.