The Police Association of New South Wales is the industrial association representing over 99 percent of the sworn

Police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

s in the

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. Membership of the association is also open to former officers who have retired or been discharged from the police force as medically unfit.

Organisation

The association was founded in 1921 after the founding of the

NSW Police Force The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands ...

in 1862.

Campaigns

In recent years, the association has focused on a number of campaigns, most relating to employment

rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory ...

of serving officers.

Tasers

Since 2010, the association has campaigned for the roll-out of non-lethal

electroshock weapon An electroshock weapon is a less-lethal weapon that utilizes an electric shock to incapacitate a target by either temporarily disrupting voluntary muscle control and/or through pain compliance. There are several different types of electroshock w ...

s (specifically

Taser A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended t ...

s) to NSW Police officers. Tasers have been described by Association President, Scott Weber, as, "an important and effective tool in protecting people and controlling violent and dangerous situations".''Ombudsman slams police for needless use of Tasers''
by Anna Patty ( Sydney Morning Herald, 24 October 2012) In 2012, the NSW Ombudsman published a report suggesting Tasers had been misused by Police officers and suggested a number of new rules and guidelines for the use of the weapons. The association responded by saying the number of assaults against officers had "plummeted" since the introduction of Tasers.''NSW Ombudsman calls for Taser overhaul''
by Vincent Morello ( Sydney Morning Herald, 23 October 2012)

Death and disability payments

In 2011, the

NSW Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...

made reforms to the NSW ''Police Death and Disability scheme'' to " emovethe giant lump sum payments and ncouragemore officers to return to work". The association organised a number of

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooper ...

s against the changes but eventually ceded to the governments demands. In early 2012, the Government negotiated further changes to the scheme to allow for payments of up to

AUD The Australian dollar (sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of Australia, including its external territories: Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island. It is officially used as currency by three independent Pacific Island s ...

$900,000 to a short list of unresolved cases that had not been finalised. These were the last Police Officers to receive lump sum payments as a result of being medically unfit for duty. The NSW Opposition (specifically former Premier

Nathan Rees Nathan Rees () (born 12 February 1968) is a former Australian politician who served as the 41st Premier of New South Wales and parliamentary leader of the New South Wales division of the Labor Party from September 2008 to December 2009. Rees wa ...

) claimed the outcome was a, "backdoor deal done with the association which undermines the whole arrangement".''NSW police officers paid almost $1 million each to quit force under deal struck with O'Farrell government''
by Barclay Crawford (

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...

, 12 February 2012) As a result of these reforms medically unfit Officers are now discharged from service and receive five years of recurring payments at 75% of their salary. Once the five years elapses, if the officer is still unable to obtain alternate employment, they are required to apply to Centrelink for disability payments if they still wish to receive an income.

External links

Police Association of New South Wales

References

{{Authority control Law enforcement in New South Wales Trade unions in New South Wales Trade unions established in 1921 1921 establishments in Australia Police unions