Police Federation of Australia

PFA
Police Federation of Australia
Founded1 January 1998
HeadquartersCanberra, ACT
Location
Members
65,287 (as at 31 December 2022)[1]
Key people
Mark Carroll, President
Scott Weber, Chief Executive Officer
Websitepfa.org.au

The Police Federation of Australia (PFA) is a peak police union body that represents the interests of Australian police officers.

It was formerly registered under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 on 1 January 1998. The Canberra office was opened by John Howard, the then Prime Minister of Australia, on Tuesday, 16 September 2003.[2]

The members of each State, Territory and Federal Police Association/Union are members of the Police Federation of Australia, and the organisation was affiliated with the ACTU.[3] The role of the PFA is to protect and promote the workings and interests of those police officers, should any requirement be needed for their representation. This is enacted by being the "National Voice of Policing."[4] In 2007, Peter Alexander (the then President of the Police Federation of Australia) said the union represented 50,000 officers.[5] As of December 2018, the PFA represented over 63,000 members nationally, which gives it the greatest density level of membership of any union organisation within Australia.[4]

In 2002 the CEO of the Police Federation of Australia, Mark Burgess, called for a national approach to tackling the problems of hand guns in the community "I think there needs to be a far greater cooperation and coordination between the Federal Government and the State and Territory Governments. We've said for some time it's unfortunate these things are finding their way into the country and then it's left to State and Territory police officers to clean up the mess and the carnage after they've been used."[6]

In 2005 the Police Federation of Australia supported the fears of the Australian Federal Police Association (AFPA), regarding industrial relations laws relating to Australian Workplace Agreements saying the laws could erode the integrity of police officers. The concerns were rejected by a spokesman for Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews, saying state police would remain in the state systems, and that AFP staff would continue to be governed by their certified agreement.[7]

  1. ^ "Membership size of registered organisations – 2023" (PDF). Fair Work Commission. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  2. ^ Prime Minister John Howard's speech Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine Office of the Prime Minister website Transcript. Accessed 30 April 2007
  3. ^ ACTU online directory Archived 3 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 30 April 2007
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Mulrunji case sparks anger amongst Qld police - Transcript ABC Radio The World Today - 6 February 2007 Accessed 30 April 2007
  6. ^ Police Federation calls for national approach Transcript ABC Radio AM 27 May 2002. Accessed 30 April 2007
  7. ^ Police want out of IR laws The Age, 15 November 2005. Accessed 30 April 2007