INTHEBLACK February 2025 - Magazine - Page 16
MEMBER PROFILE
“The biggest challenge is building relationships. It is not enough to know your
debits and credits and to work out your reconciliations. It is about relationships,
working closely with operational areas and influencing governments.”
SANTA CARDENIA FCPA, WESTERN AUSTRALIA POLICE FORCE
be for sustainability funding to ensure
increasing costs are met in the future,
or we may need a new police station,
a new or replacement plane or helicopter.
It can vary. These business cases can take
six months to prepare and submit, and I
oversee that process.
I report to the commissioner and raise
concerns where I see excessive expenditure,
such as overtime. I raise such issues because
there are financial implications and possible
health and safety concerns. We need to
ensure that policing resources are effectively
deployed without officers burning out.
My role is about responding to changing
pinch points. Examples can include
changes in crime trends related to family
violence, youth crime and organised crime.
While working with the operational areas,
I have to ascertain what this implies in
material terms.
Ultimately, I need to know how to respond
to change to deploy police and resources
as quickly as possible for community safety.
We have to be adaptable, and we have
to be strategically intelligent about
changing circumstances.
I need to balance the budget and identify
where the pressure points might be for the
agency. I cannot do this in isolation. I need
operational input and it is all about front-line
operations and the best outcomes for them
and the community.
I felt it aligned with my values. My belief
that what I am doing serves the community
keeps me going. It is simply about fulfilling
the pact I made with myself — that I
would stay true to my values and help the
most vulnerable.
MY CHALLENGES
Building relationships
When working in an operational agency,
it can be challenging to educate and take
stakeholders from outside of the agency
along with you. It is important to build
relationships with other departments,
such as the Department of Treasury and
Department of Finance, so they can gain
an understanding of what we do as an
operational agency. That has taken time
to develop.
The biggest challenge is building those
relationships. It is not enough to know your
debits and credits and to work out your
reconciliations. It is about relationships,
working closely with operational areas
and influencing governments. Being treated
as an equal in the operational space makes
such a difference. That has been my oldest
and longest challenge, and I know I have
surmounted it. ■
GAME CHANGERS
Staying true to my values
After I finished my accountancy degree
and the CPA Program, I realised that
I wanted to help the community in a
service delivery agency — either the police,
education or the health sectors.
I put my hat in the ring as a level five
financial management officer at the
Western Australia Police Force because
16 INTHEBLACK February 2025
Note: Since this interview was conducted,
Santa Cardenia has moved into the role of
assistant director general, business and corporate
services at the Department of Planning, Lands
and Heritage in Western Australia. This article
can be read as a reflection of her time as CFO
of the Western Australia Police Force.
