‘New sheriff needed in town:’ Wagga Wagga sheriffs walk off job over staffing crisis

Yesterday, sheriffs in Wagga Wagga dropped the tools and walked off the job in protest over critical understaffing.

Sheriffs in the city of Wagga Wagga stopped working yesterday (17 July) to protest outside their courthouses over staffing crisis and poor pay.

The duration of the protest lasted for two hours, which had a severe impact on the court’s ability to function in an appropriate fashion. The action affected courthouses in Temora, Junee, Young, Cootamundra, Gundagai, Tumut, and Narrandera.

There are over 300 sheriffs across the state attached to 170 courthouses, with 44 courthouses being affected by yesterday’s actions.

While the duties of the sheriffs have ballooned over the last decade, retention and recruitment have been a major struggle for the office due to the poor pay.

As far as their job role goes, sheriffs (formally “sworn uniformed sheriff’s officers”) both enforce the law and provide court security.

Their 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. Sheriffs often prove to be a crucial part of law enforcement. They enforce orders issued by NSW local, district and supreme courts, the High Court, the Federal Court, and the Family Court.

Playing by the rules is what sheriffs have tried to do previously, said Stewart Little, general secretary of the Public Service Association, which represents sheriffs, yet they’ve been ignored for over 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. In 2023, there was a review of sheriffs’ pay, but the report was never released under ’cabinet in confidence,” Little said.

“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, so sheriffs have just had enough. Sheriffs are highly trained in what is risky and stressful work.”

Overall, the protest marks a significant frustration among sheriffs relating to issues that are happening in various sectors deemed important to societal practices. Much like the child-protection worker protests, more and more workforces in critical sectors are struggling to recruit and retain staff.

“Sheriffs need a solid pay bump to reflect the dangerous work they do; 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.

“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,” Little said.