A multi-million-dollar payroll blunder six years ago has left a number of current and former staff out of pocket, police say.
The mistake was only noticed after a review of the police payroll last year, which revealed staff had been incorrectly paid since 2009.
The outstanding pay relates to holiday pay, annual, sick and bereavement leave.
In a statement police deputy chief executive of people Fiona Michel said they expected the total cost owed to be just short of $40 million.
She said to put it in context, a single fortnightly pay-run is $40 million.
Ms Michel said it was too early to say exactly how many staff had been affected, the range in pay owing or the exact total owed.
She said they were in the process of telling those affected what they are owed.
