Sheriffs call for better pay and conditions

Sheriffs at Central Coast courthouses joined their colleagues from Gosford to the Queensland border in a stop-work meeting on July 4 over a staffing crisis and poor pay.

The action lasted two hours, impacting the courts’ ability to function.

The Public Service Association (PSA) says the Office of the Sheriff has difficulty recruiting and retaining staff due to the poor pay.

While sheriffs’ duties have ballooned over the past decade their pay has failed to keep pace, a spokesperson said.

“Sheriffs, (formally Sworn Uniformed Sheriff’s Officers), both enforce the law and provide court security.

“Sheriffs are a crucial part of law enforcement.

“They enforce orders issued by NSW Local, District and Supreme Courts, the High Court, the Federal Court and Family Court.

“Sheriffs enforce writs and serve warrants and Property Seizure Orders issued under the Fines Act 1996.

“Their security duties involve maintaining the security of court complexes, many of which have airport-style perimeter security and scanning to ensure the safety of judges, magistrates, lawyers and the public.”

The spokesperson said there was more than 300 sheriffs across the state attached to more than 170 courthouses, with 44 of these affected by the July 4 action.

General Secretary of the Public Service Association Stewart Little said the group’s representation on behalf of sheriffs had been ignored for more than two years.

“In mid 2022 there was an agency restructure and the senior leadership of the Office of the Sheriff got a significant pay bump,” he said.

“In 2023 there was a review of sheriffs’ pay but the report was never released under ‘cabinet in confidence’.

“Sheriffs waited patiently, and were told the matter would be resolved in the 2024 budget, but when it was delivered in mid-June nothing happened.

“And now they’ve been fobbed off again with some other made-up bureaucratic process; sheriffs have just had enough.

“(They) are highly trained in what is risky and stressful work.”

Little said sheriffs needed a solid pay bump to reflect the dangerous work they did.

“When enforcing court orders they’ll be entering people’s properties wearing stab-proof vests, carrying capsicum spray, batons and handcuffs; it’s difficult work,” he said.

““Sheriffs put their lives on the line in courthouses to make sure judges, lawyers and members of the public are safe from crooks and criminals, yet they are paid the same as people with desk jobs and administration roles at the courthouse; it’s just not on.”