Overcoming Barriers of Gender and Race in Policing: Australian and New Zealand Examples

Overcoming Barriers of Gender and Race in Policing: Australian and New Zealand Examples

Available research has supported the view that female minority police officers are vulnerable to the compounding effects of sexual and racial discrimination. This chapter summarises three studies concerning efforts to reverse this situation, involving the experiences of female Indigenous officers in Queensland and the Northern Territory (Australia) and New Zealand. One of the risks with initiatives in this area is that employees are seen as tokens. However, the results from these survey-based studies were largely positive, suggesting that police departments can achieve substantive and genuine outcomes in deploying and supporting minority women. Specifically, targeted recruitment and academy-bridging programmes appear as promising strategies; as do responsive negotiation in deployment, explicit support and affirmation from management, well-organised mentorship programmes and more training and secondment opportunities. Two of the studies found that Indigenous women can also have satisfactory careers in auxiliary roles, although these positions come with a heightened risk of triple disadvantage due to the lesser status and opportunities in this category of police work.

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