The level of recruitment from An Garda Síochána to police forces in Australia is minimal despite significant efforts to entice Irish officers and claims during the general election campaign large numbers of gardaí were taking up positions there.
While a recruitment drive by one Australian police force over two years ago attracted more than 100 applications from serving Garda members, only 11 are currently serving with that Australian force.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín claimed last year the “Australian government recruited more gardaí net than the Irish government” at a time when “violent crime is increasing”. He added Australian police forces were recruiting in Ireland and “leaving with our trained gardaí”.
However, information from all the police forces in Australia shows campaigns to recruit gardaí to several of those forces have yielded minimal results.
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Those efforts to entice serving Garda members to Australia came to public prominence last March when the South Australia Police announced it was aiming to hire 200 gardaí and police officers from the UK. It said it was offering “a job in Australia with a competitive salary, a generous holiday package, and fitness and health benefits”. It held recruitment events, including in Temple Bar, Dublin.
At the time, Garda recruitment efforts were proving sluggish, leading to concern the drive to attract gardaí to South Australia would heap further pressure on Garda numbers.
Some 10 months later, South Australia Police told The Irish Times “three Irish recruits from the Republic and Northern Ireland will commence their training in March”. It added more recruits were “expected to be confirmed” later this year.
Western Australia Police said it was “actively recruiting” Garda members and police officers from the UK and New Zealand with at least three years’ service.
Of the 2,100 applicants received since October, 2022, “more than 100″ were from the Republic of Ireland, with 11 having been accepted and graduated. They were now “on the beat in Western Australia”.
Garda Headquarters was unable to provide any data on the number of serving gardaí who had left to take up positions in Australian police forces. The net gain in Garda numbers in the 12 months to the end of last November was 172, according to figures supplied by the Garda to the Policing Authority.
In reply to queries, New South Wales Police, which includes Sydney, said it was “not accepting” applications at present from those working in policing in the Republic. Victoria Police said it was not actively recruiting gardaí from Ireland, though some exemptions could be made for UK police officers. Any applicant was required to show proof of their status to permanently live and work in Australia.
The eligibility for employment in the other Australian police forces is similarly restrictive. Recruitment is at times open to citizens from New Zealand, and sometimes serving UK police officers. But people from other countries, including Ireland, cannot apply unless they have first become Australian citizens, or have permanent residency.
The Australian citizenship or residency requirement applies to recruitment for the Australian Federal Police, Tasmania Police, Northern Territory Police and Queensland Police.
Tasmania Police offers some exemptions to those who have secured visas to work long term in Australia. However, that applies generally and is not specific to people already working as police forces in other countries.
Mr Tóibín said when he made his remarks in the autumn, Garda numbers had not increased. He added even though there may be a net increase in numbers when final figures for 2024 were available, due to an uptick during the final months of the year, this would be minimal and well below what was required. At the same time, the population of the Republic had increased significantly, meaning there had been a “per capita net decline” in Garda numbers in recent years.
He also noted more than 100 Garda members had applied to join the Western Australian Police, suggesting some of the applicants would need to put in place visas allowing them live and work in Australia before further progressing their applications.
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