Participate in the cultural review

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Respect, integrity and inclusion are the foundations of a safe and supportive work environment.

This is especially true for the demanding and dynamic work that police undertake. We invite current and former members to share their experiences of the workplace culture within the New South Wales Police Force.

Through examining the workplace culture of the New South Wales Police Force, the Cultural Review seeks to ensure that the workplace:

places safety and respect at the heart of members’ experiences at work
encourages representation from diverse cohorts across the organisation and embeds equitable career progression for members of all genders, abilities, cultural backgrounds and sexual orientations
is backed by leadership commitment and capability to preventing and responding effectively to workplace harm
set clear expectations around behaviour, culture and integrity.

Sharing your experiences will help us build our understanding of the culture in New South Wales Police Force workplaces, identify systemic cultural issues and develop recommendations for a safer and more inclusive workplace culture.
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Share your story

To enable as many members as possible to share their experiences, there are a range of ways you can participate in the Cultural Review:
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Complete the workforce survey

Join an informal listening session

Make a written submission

Complete the workforce survey

The survey will be administered by the Social Research Centre, a leading research institution affiliated with the Australian National University.

All current members will receive an invitation to participate in the survey via email. The invitation will include a personalised survey link.

The survey will also be available to eligible former members via the Social Research Centre’s website and promoted by the Review team through a range of channels.

We will use de-identified information gathered in the survey to inform our findings and recommendations. All survey responses will be kept confidential, and only aggregated and de-identified information from survey responses will be used in our final report. The report will not identify anyone who completes the survey.

More information coming soon.
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Register your interest in a confidential interview

Each interview will take around 60 minutes and will take place via telephone, online or in an agreed private location.

We will endeavour to speak with as many people as possible within the timelines and resources that we have available. If we are unable to speak directly with you there are several other ways to contribute.

Interviews will be semi-structured and conducted by a member of the Cultural Review team in a way that is informal and conversational. Strict confidentiality arrangements will be in place. You do not have to answer all or any of the questions. They are designed to help us identify key themes and systemic issues, and to inform the development of our findings and recommendations.

We will use de-identified information gathered in the interviews to inform our report and recommendations. The report will not identify anyone who participates in an interview.

More information coming soon.

Join a listening session

Over the course of the Cultural Review, we will conduct informal listening sessions with members at a range of locations and online.

Listening sessions are voluntary and information shared will be de-identified in the Cultural Review’s findings. They will be led by experienced members of the Cultural Review team using trauma-informed and inclusive approaches.

Where possible, listening sessions will be arranged to bring together members at similar levels of seniority or with similar attributes (for example, members with disability, LGBTIQA+ members or members from multicultural and multifaith backgrounds) or within certain geographic areas or Commands.

The schedule of forthcoming listening sessions will be shared with members as the Cultural Review progresses.

More information coming soon.
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Make a written submission

Only de-identified information from submissions will be used to shape our findings and recommendations. Our final report will not identify anyone who makes a submission.

More information coming soon.
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Scope of review

What the Cultural Review will examine

The Cultural Review will examine the drivers and experiences of workplace culture within the New South Wales Police Force. These include:
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leadership capability, development and alignment
the composition and diversity of the workforce
the fairness of recruitment, retention and promotion cycles
staff experience of culture, including discrimination, bullying, harassment, and safety and support
how the organisation actively prevents and responds to inappropriate and/or unlawful conduct including discrimination, bullying, harassment and victimisation
staff trust in complaint and reporting processes.
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What the Cultural Review won't be able to examine

There are some things that are outside the scope of the Cultural Review. These include:

specific, individual complaints
matters that are currently subject to court proceedings.
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Making a formal complaint

Hearing personal experiences from current and former members of the New South Wales Police Force will play an important role in shaping the Cultural Review, but its focus is on systemic issues.

Talking to the Cultural Review team does not constitute a formal complaint and the team will not be conducting investigations into specific incidents or individuals.

If you wish to find out more information about making a report internally to the New South Wales Police Force, the Safe Reporting Unit provides a confidential service, and you can speak with an advisor for assistance.

To contact Safe Reporting, phone 26399 (Eaglenet) or 02 8835 6399.

Please visit the Help and support page for information on organisations that can receive complaints about discrimination, sexual harassment, victimisation, workplace bullying, human rights issues and criminal conduct.

Privacy and safety

Confidentiality

Ensuring the confidentiality of all participants is one of our key concerns. The Cultural Review team has extensive experience in the sensitive, careful management of issues around racism, discrimination, sexual harassment, victimisation, workplace bullying, human rights issues and criminal conduct.

There are some instances where the law requires us to disclose information under mandatory notification and reporting requirements.

The Review team will not share any identifiable information with third parties. Your information will only be used for the purposes of developing themes and recommendations in the final report. The Review may use quotes and case studies from interviews and written submissions in the final report and will de-identify these accordingly.

We will collect, store and destroy all personal information in accordance with Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.

Safety and wellbeing

Recounting past experiences can be distressing. If you wish to speak expert counselling or support, please visit Help and support for details of available services and their contact details.

See support services