Let’s talk: Major overhaul to police force could see more women in blue

Women are set to play a larger role in our federal police force. The ABC reports that Andrew Colvin, Australian Federal Police Commissioner, has said that he is eager to introduce gender targets, increasing the ratio to 50 per cent female, 50 per cent male officers.

Mr Colvin is hoping to rollout this ratio over the next 10 years, admitting that currently only one in five sworn, uniformed officers are women.

“It’s not just surprising, it’s disappointing that… less than 20 per cent of our sworn uniformed staff are women.

“We’ve set a range of targets. We’ve said that within a decade, we want to have a 50 per cent ration [within] the AFP women to men,” he said.

Mr Colvin is expecting resistance, and has acknowledged that the targets, specifically increasing the number of female officers by 35 per cent within five years, will not be easy to accomplish.

“This will be uncomfortable at times, but it’s important work. Real reform, real change is uncomfortable,” he said.

“They’ll take time for us to achieve.”

These targets were unveiled in a speech titled ‘An Adaptive and Innovative AFP’.

Across the workforce he stated that only 35 per cent of all staff are women, less than 20 per cent of uniformed staff are women and only 15 out of 84 senior leaders are women.

Do you think we need more female police?