administrative officer

police officer

community liaison

software engineer

project officer

Victoria Police

Working for this organisation at a middle management level I got to see both ends of the spectrum. To obtain advancement in this career you must be a “yes” person and not challenge any idea or suggestion by senior management. They talk about flexibility, culture and welfare, however it stops there. Many managers are more interested in feathering their nests than the welfare or development of their people.

The technology used is antiquated and paper based at best, where fax machines are still part of daily life. 

If you challenge the system or decision even when it’s wrong or immoral expect to be ostracised and seen as a whiner, all because you just don’t say yes and just agree. It’s a job that attracts ego and unfortunately it’s the egos and minorities that get promotion rather than on merit. 

I know many employees only stay in the job simply because of the good leave and super entitlements. 

To be that’s not enough. You need to be happy at work. 


Probably one of the most interesting and exciting jobs any one could ever perform. The variations and possibilities of employment are fantastic. Learning on the job, supervised by those senior in rank with great skills, There is great team work, you mix with similar minded people who in the majority are enthusiastic, caring, professional, keen on making a difference and perform their job to the best of their ability. In the Victoria Police, duties vary enormously, from basic mobile and Street beat work, to investigations with the various CIB squads, including  surveillance, forensic, accident investigations and many others. Management in general are very supportive and recognise talent and those who have obvious skills in certain areas. The job is so exciting most don,t want to miss a day. The hardest part of the job is your initial education at the Academy, learning all the relevant legislation and learning about the numerous duties police are supposed to be able perform and then trying to maintain the learning while on the street.  The whole job is enjoyable. The good bad and the ugly all part of the learning curve of law enforcement

I've worked for Victoria Police for several years. I think the job itself could be good but I think the organisation is a mess. Clunky outdated processes that take up for too much time and are repeated for little reason. Ancient technology and programs. Be prepared for a mound of paperwork and not be given the time to do it. Never have enough resources and work harder for no benefit. Worst part is when you start out you are likely to be forced to work far from home and be stuck with no work life balance for several years until you can escape uniform Policing. Getting a Diploma as part of work is neat and you meet some good people. The leave is pretty good and once you've suffered for several years the money gets alright. But I think the bad outweighs the good but like a lot of people in the job you feel stuck and can't get out.

the good things:
Work / Life balance, job flexibility (in some areas), solid VPS Enterprise Agreement, meaningful purpose to assist in community safety.

the challenges:
Culture:
Stagnant workforce, overall culture is resistant to change of any type, Inexperienced and incompetent staff are promoted into managerial positions based on their tenure and formed friendships in the organisation, lack of internal mobility and opportunities (for corporate / VPS staff). 

Innovation:
Holistically, the company is slow to adapt to modern workplace practices including technology and Innovation. Most areas rely heavily on out of date paper-based processes and duplication of work. 

Collaboration
Lack of collaboration with other business units due to a 'silo' mentality. 


I have had the privilege to contribute to keeping our communities safer by serving in Victoria Police for almost 42 years.  I have seen the best and the worst of people.  Serving in Victoria Police has provided me with the opportunity to perform duties in a wide range of roles from uniformed operational officer, detective, prosecutor and commissioned officer. For Victoria Police as a large organisation to continue to progressively become more professional we need to have a police force that encourages and embraces a diversity of views and ideas and innovation.

My day was being involved in entering data for court appearances for people trying to get their driving licenses back.  This included speaking to high ranking police, solicitors, and court personnel on a daily basis.

I learned to adjust the points of data entry by eliminating 10 unnecessary steps that still came out with the needed result.

The hardest part of the job was making sure that the papers arrived in time for the court case. Also having to deal with people at the front counter wanting a police report of accidents in which their loved ones died.  There was no training for this.

The enjoyable part of the job was interaction with people of all ranks and the amenities for staff was excellent..

The first 8 years of working for Vic Pol was amazing. When I started suffering from mental health issues, I was treated very poorly and ostracised. The last 8 years saw massive changes in the job, in particularly with the push to promote women who weren't suited for roles just to meet targets of 50/50 ratios. Everybody became offended by everything and people will stab you in the back for promotion. The public hate you, and you get little to no support from Managers. Members are dropping like flies with P.T.S.D and nobody cares. You are treated like nothing more than a 5 digit number and can be replaced at the drop of a hat. If my kids wanted to apply for the job, I'd slap them. Don't do it.

Absolutely poorly managed. Different outcomes for different people based on gender, minority race groups and who is making the decisions at the time vying for promotion. TPAV don't have your back and there is nil work life balance as a general duties except if your part time. The systems are archaic and clunky, over legislated with different ways to do things at every station. Free overtime is expected. Employees welfare is not as important in reality as it is in meetings and the management system, outlook and objectives are not concurrent with modern day families lives or attitudes.

+ No two days are ever the same lots of challenges and growth.  You can also have a lot of fun and unique experiences.
- Shift work, early starts, long nights
+Get to met and work with some really amazing people, most of them.
- Get to work with and meet some A - holes (both colleagues and members of the public)
+A large variety of jobs are available in the organisation
- Nepotism, poor promotional and transfer systems
-Disaffected management culture.
- Lack of focus on frontline policing with too much focus on specialist groups.  Needs independent review and oversight to better utilise resources and finances.

The work can be really rewarding, but I found that it’s an uphill battle to implement meaningful change which can be a bit disheartening. 
The organisation’s hr and corporate support are also very old school and there are regular recruitment freezes.
There is a good approach to team work and collaboration but it’s typically in silos which makes high impact work difficult. 
I also found staff are often treated as replaceable and flexible work is only supported on the basis of childcare needs. Hopefully this changes over time.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Administrative officer 1 salary reported	$60,295 per year
Police officer 10 salaries reported	$94,500 per year
Community liaison 3 salaries reported	$105,445 per year
Software engineer 12 salaries reported	$138,504 per year
Project officer 6 salaries reported	$98,966 per year

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