POSITIVE – posted by Jake Longhook

Many people consider Australia to be the most culturally diverse nation in the world. As such it is critical that our security forces match that diversity in order to best serve the country. A range of cultural backgrounds in a police service also encourages sharing of a wide range of experiences, thus broadening the perspectives of each police officer. As one of the primary roles of the police is to communicate with the community and keep the peace, a broad perspective is very important. By officers working with other team members from other cultures, there is also a natural tendency for those officers to have a higher degree of genuine empathy for people of a different background to themselves. Again, this is key in successfully engaging different parts of the community. Finally, a culturally diverse police service provides an excellent role model for other citizens to see people of different race, religion and heritage working closely together in close-knit teams.

NEGATIVE – posted by Moira Nicklebut

Equal opportunity is a very important topic in a nation as culturally diverse as Australia. However, sometimes I think that the benefits of cultural diversity in the workplace can be over-stated in determining just who fills that workplace. Take the Police Service for example. Although I already see a great deal of diversity in our Police Service, the pressure for cultural diversity within organisations may see the right candidate being turned away to enlist officers based on filling this requirement. My primary concern is that some police officers I’ve encountered seem to be so ‘diverse’ in their background that they sometimes appear to struggle to identify with a particular predicament. I believe that it is more important to have a police officer that has respective and extensive knowledge on cultural behaviours rather than having a more culturally diverse police service. In my opinion, having a culturally diverse police service is far less significant than the education and training of these officers to interact efficiently with the community’s cultural diversity. Therefore, the focus of recruitment within the police service should be based on the applicant most suitable for the position rather than the emphasis on cultural diversity.