Tasmania Police will today (8 March 2017) launch its celebratory year of 100 Years of Women in Policing.
The celebratory year, launched on International Women’s Day, marks 100 years since the first woman – Kate Campbell – joined Tasmania Police.
Commissioner Darren Hine said:
"This is a very exciting and important year for us.
"We are celebrating 100 years since we took the momentous first step towards a gender inclusive workforce," he said.
100 years ago Kate Campbell’s role had a narrow focus and she was employed in Hobart to address the offending of women and children.
She monitored truancy, made sure children were ‘properly attended to’, patrolled the ‘poorer’ areas of town, ensured women and girls had appropriate accommodation and visited public houses and factories that employed women.
A second woman joined Tasmania Police in Launceston later that year. By 1960 there were 10 women employed by Tasmania Police.
Women police officers wore a breast badge and hat but did not have a police uniform until the 1970s.
It was the 1970s that saw several key changes including an increase in recruitment of women to 35, pay parity with men and integration of women into most aspects of police work.
Today about 31% (399) of Tasmania Police members are women, and women are employed in most specialist roles.
"A workforce with a mix of perspectives, life experiences and approaches that reflects the diversity of the community we police is not just desirable, it’s essential," Commissioner Hine said, Tasmania Police say.
"Many advances in policies, practices and attitudes have been made in the last 100 years to help make our service more inclusive of women.
"But, of course, there are still improvements to be made.
"This year is a time to celebrate the women in our workforce, to reflect on how far we’ve come and to look ahead to how far we can go," he said.
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