When Jayne Bayles decided to walk away from her previous career to become a police officer at 52, she asked herself one simple question: what have you got to lose?
That mindset paid off today when she graduated with the Shaun Pullen Memorial Award for team spirit and UTAS Emerging Leader award in her class of 30 new constables.
Bayles also became one of the force’s oldest recruits to take part in the intensive 28-week training program, alongside classmates as young as 18.
“I didn’t want to see age as a barrier, but to think that I did have the capacity to be able to do that at my age, it’s a pretty amazing achievement,” she said.
Bayles said she had reached a crossroads in her previous marketing and real estate careers and felt she still had “more to give” – both to the community and to herself.
“I just wanted to see that there could be somewhere [with] longevity, that didn’t show any age discrimination and was still able to be willing and accept somebody at my age,” she said.
“If I couldn’t do it, if it didn’t work out, then that was okay, but I just kept challenging myself the whole time and there is nothing to lose but all to gain.”
She committed herself fully – academically, physically and emotionally – to learning the ropes.
“I’ve sacrificed a lot. I don’t have a young brain. I don’t have a brain that has been studying for some time, so I did have to put everything else aside and really focus on this course for the last 28 weeks,” she said.
Bayles will now begin 12 months as a probationary constable, stationed at one of Tasmania Police’s stations across the state.
Her graduating class includes 18 men and 11 other women. It is the third recruit course to graduate in 2025, with a total of 68 new constables joining the ranks so far this year.
Constable Kyan Clay from Hobart was awarded dux of the course, with Constable Bailey Jupp from Penguin named runner-up.
Commander Damien George said the new recruits came from a wide range of backgrounds including former schoolteachers, registered nurses, electricians and builders.
The 30 new constables join Tasmania Police as the force works towards its goal of 1,454 officers by July 2026.
