Gender Equity in Australian and New Zealand Policing: A Five-Year Review
| Published date | 01 December 2010 |
| Author | Amanda L. King,Tim Prenzler,Jenny Fleming |
| DOI | 10.1350/ijps.2010.12.4.211 |
| Date | 01 December 2010 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Gender equity in Australian and New
Zealand policing: a five-year review
Tim Prenzler‡, Jenny Fleming†and Amanda L. King§
‡(Corresponding author) Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Policing and
Security, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland 4111, Australia. Tel: (011-61) (0)7 373
5561; Fax: (011-61) (0)7 373 5561; email: t.prenzler@griffith.edu.au
†Tasmanian Institute for Law Enforcement Studies, University of Tasmania.
§Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security, Griffith
University, Brisbane.
Submitted 8 May 2010; revision submitted 12 July 2010; accepted
21 July 2010
Keywords: women police, gender equity, equal employment opportunity,
police organisation/structure, police administration/management
Tim Prenzler
is a professor and Chief Invest-
igator in the Australian Research Council Centre
of Excellence in Policing and Security, Griffith
University, where he manages the Integrity
Systems Project.
Jenny Fleming
is a professor and the Director of
the Tasmanian Institute for Law Enforcement
Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart.
Amanda King
is a research assistant in the
Australian Research Council Centre of Excel-
lence in Policing and Security, Griffith University,
Brisbane.
A
BSTRACT
This paper examines the impact of equity meas-
ures in Australian and New Zealand policing,
involving nine police departments, from 2003/4
to 2007/8. The findings were mixed. Overall,
the number of sworn female officers in both
countries continued to trend slowly upwards, with
an average of 26.6 per cent in Australia and
17.1 per cent in New Zealand in 2007/8.
However, recruit numbers appeared to have
peaked around 33 per cent and were in decline in
most departments where data were available.
Women continued to move up the ranks in all
departments, but there were still very few women
in senior ranks. Although women were not separ-
ating at a higher rate than men, they were more
likely than men to resign. While more positive
than earlier appraisals of equity in Australia, the
findings continue to reflect inadequate data collec-
tion that would address long-term inequity issues.
The labour force participation rate of women in
Australia has increased significantly over the last
few decades. However, women are not necessarily
focusing on traditional career paths but rather see
employment opportunities as one of many options
that include family and lifestyle balance. Never-
theless, it is argued here that police organisations
should remain committed to gender equity.
Affirmative action and other gender equity strat-
egies are considered necessary to encourage greater
participation by women, for the benefits to
women of a policing career and for the wider good
of the community and police organisations them-
selves. Better diagnostic data and visible commit-
ment are required to support this objective.
BACKGROUND
Women in policing are of increasing interest
to criminologists (Natarajan, 2008) and
there are a number of good reasons for
studying the status of women police. That
Page 584
International Journal of Police Science & Management Volume 12 Number 4
International Journal of Police
Science and Management,
Vol. 12 No. 4, 2010, pp. 584–595.
DOI: 10.1350/ijps.2010.12.4.211
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