Under a new labour agreement, the QPS has been given the green light to sponsor up to 500 new officers per year through the Employer Nomination Scheme.

The campaign has already attracted more than 5000 expressions from skilled police officers around the world, with the most interest received from the UK, Canada and South Africa.

The agreement allows the QPS to recruit international police officers without the requirement to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

All officers recruited under the new labour agreement will be required to pass the QPS recruit testing and vetting.

“Hopefully, some of them will be able to start as soon as October coming to Queensland making a difference, working together to ensure that this most fundamental of objectives keeping Queenslanders in their community safe can be realised,” Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said on Wednesday.

“I’m pleased that the national government has been able to work with the Palaszczuk government and the commissioner to ensure that we can focus on what really matters in our national interest, keeping communities safe.”

Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said the change would make a real difference to the service.

“Last year was quite challenging in terms of recruitment, particularly because of the current labour market, and we have seen extraordinary interest in our organisation since this announcement – some 15,000 inquiries, and we have some 314 already in the pipeline,” Ms Carroll said.

Thousands of dollars in relocation incentive payments had also drawn additional interest, she said.

State Police Minister Mark Ryan said the recruitment drive offered a unique opportunity for people across the globe to join a world-class organisation and for the service to expand the diversity of its workforce.

“I call that a win-win,” he said.