AnalysisAustralia's public safety sector

The Public Safety ITAB (PSITAB) offers the following analysis of the public safety industry in Australia (the ITAB represents police, fire, emergency service, emergency management, and defense).

Industry overview
The Australian public safety industry has 578,614 paid and volunteer personnel who are employed or deployed by state/territory and commonwealth agencies.

The industry provides a range of services to the Australian community including local law enforcement, fire response, search, rescue, and emergency response to storms and floods, border protection, and the defense of Australia’s interests within the region.

PSITAB notes that the economic and social benefits associated with having effective police, fire emergency management, emergency services, and defense forces are difficult to calculate. It is undeniable, though, that the effective provision of these services creates an environment that allows communities and businesses to grow and prosper.

Expenditure on the provision of services to the community
The States/Territories and Commonwealth spend approximately AUS$26.38 billion per annum on the provision of policing, fire, emergency services, and national security. In addition to this expenditure, the Bureau of Transport Economics research has estimated that major natural disasters cost Australia an average of AUS$10.87 billion per annum in property losses to individuals, government, and companies.

The total cost of provision of services and the impact of natural disasters is estimated at $$37 billion (PSITAB says this is calculated from information collated from the Productivity Commission Report and federal budget papers). Other costs are far more difficult to determine. There is little doubt, though, that without an effective public service industry there would be increased insurance costs and significantly less international investment in the Australian economy.

Industry future
Employment trend data is of limited value in tracking and predicting employment in the public safety industry as:

• the industry is predominantly made up of government agencies with the number of industry personnel determined by government based on risk assessment and response requirements, and community expectation of service provision; and
• the provision of fire and emergency services to many parts of Australia is provided by volunteers which is not identified in employment trend data.

Recent world events such as 9/11 and deployment of Australian troops within international peacekeeping forces, have seen government increasing the response capabilities of the industry with a focus on security, border protection, and counter-terrorism issues.

Many agencies are currently recruiting. Defense spending has been significantly increased in the last federal budget with commitments to further increase Australian Defense Forces (ADF) personnel. Fire and emergency services are currently reviewing incident control systems and nationally, working groups are reviewing chemical, biological, radiation hazard (CBR) response capabilities and procedures. Exotic diseases have always been a major concern, and after last year’s foot and mouth outbreak in Great Britain, emergency management agencies have been undertaking extensive planning activities and conducting multi-agency training simulations.

Technology is increasingly being utilized in the provision of Public Safety services; some of the areas affected by new technologies include:

• the increased use of forensic evidence
• cybercrime or computer crime
• electronic surveillance
• thermal imaging technology
• robotics
• personal protective equipment
• fire engineering, detection and warning systems
• negotiations, defensive tactics, and restraint equipment
• weapons platforms
• speed detection and monitoring equipment
• breath and drug testing
• profiling
• geographical information systems GIS
• community safety

Increasingly the industry is broadening its strategies actively to manage risks by building the capacity of communities to develop and implement community safety strategies.

Training imperatives for the industry
PSITAB says that the industry has a strong education and training culture and is committed to expending a significant amount of its resources on the development of its people. Training and development are cornerstones of industry organizations’ strategic plans in recognition of the vital role training plays in the safe and efficient provision of services to the community.

Almost all public safety agencies are RTOs and do not access state recurrent funding for the delivery or assessment of training. This impacts on the recognition given to the industry through formal VET systems as AVETMIS reporting and new apprenticeship training numbers are not part of the public safety industry training arrangements. Consequently the 524,684 workers and volunteers participating in training and assessment, and the money spent by the industry on this fundamental initiative are not recognized by these formal VET systems.

“The core services provided by the industry remain relatively unchanged,” PSITAB concludes, “but some new career opportunities are emerging within specialist areas. Opportunity for lateral entry into the industry with agencies is also increasing with the industry recognizing the need to recruit specialist skills from relevant areas to meet immediate or emerging specialist skill shortages.”