I would like to express my congratulations to the 234 NSW Police recruits who were formally sworn in at the Police Academy in Goulburn last week and thank them for their extraordinary commitment to the safety and security of the people of NSW. There will be five new recruits in the Central West/ Orana Mid-Western area. Becoming a police officer is a tremendous honour, however it can be an extremely challenging and demanding profession.

Having recently completed eight months training at the Police Academy, the new officers will continue to receive on the job training under the guidance of experienced police to ensure they are adequately prepared for this important new role. On behalf of the local communities, I thank the latest crop of men and women in blue for joining one of the proudest organisations in the state and look forward to seeing more boots on the ground. The NSW Government is committed to increasing the authorised strength of the NSW Police Force to a record 16,795 over this term, and we have achieved that and more. As a community, we turn to the police in our worst hour and expect them to stand in harm’s way to prevent criminal activity.

While these probationary constables will undoubtably face many challenges during their time in the force, they will be rewarded with the knowledge they have solved major crimes, brought criminals to justice, and given closure to victims and their families. Class 333 brings the number of sworn officers through the Goulburn Police Academy to 4,596 since 2011.

The NSW Government has allocated more than $40 million for Ability Links, a program helping people with disabilities connect to the community. Ensuring people with a disability are supported in the early stages of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is priority for the NSW Government.

This Government takes its responsibility of supporting some of the more vulnerable members of our society seriously and will continue to fund Ability Links over the next year. Ability Links is a fantastic program, empowering people with disability, their families and carers to achieve their goals and build their future.

Staff, known as Linkers, work with people with disabilities to connect them to a number of opportunities including employment, volunteering and education. Under the program, there will be 295 Linker positions across NSW including 74 Aboriginal- specific Linkers. Since 2013, thousands of people with disability, their families and carers have benefitted from the program, providing more than 129,000 service connections and more than one million community connections. Until next week, Troy