Entry Requirements

If you are under 21 years of age, you must have completed your Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) or equivalent (Senior Level Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) is accepted).

If you are 21 or older, you are not required to have completed a VCE or equivalent to be eligible to apply.

The Victoria Police Act 2013 stipulates that you must be an Australian Citizen or hold Australian permanent residency to join Victoria Police.

New Zealand Citizens are required to have a Special Category Visa and be residing in Australia to submit an application.

On application to Victoria Police, you are obliged to provide proof of citizenship, permanent residency or special category visa status.

As a Police Officer, you will be required to maintain a healthy level of cardio fitness and physical strength in order to meet the physical requirements of the job.

As part of the recruitment process, you will be required to undertake a fitness test and once employed with Victoria Police you will be required to undertake regular fitness testing.

Therefore, it is important to establish an ongoing schedule of exercise to maintain your fitness whilst undertaking the application process and while you are employed by Victoria Police

WATCH THE FITNESS TEST VIDEO HERE

To apply for a Police Officer position you must have an Australian driver’s licence.

A probationary licence is acceptable.
A manual or automatic driver's licence is permitted.

As a Police Officer, you will be required to have a current First Aid certificate whilst undertaking your training and while you are deployed in the field.

Therefore, prior to induction, applicants must have obtained a Level 1 First Aid Certificate with CPR.

This certificate needs to be valid at the time of training and for a further 12 months after the completion of your training.

Renewal of the CPR component of the First Aid Certificate will be required on a cyclical basis.

All costs associated with obtaining First Aid Certification will be incurred by the applicant.

As a Police Officer, you will be required to meet the minimum medical requirements in order to safely and effectively perform the role.

As part of your application, you will be required to undertake a medical evaluation.  This will include a self-assessment, an examination by a GP, a review of your hearing by an Audiologist or Audiometrist and your vision by an Ophthalmologist or Optometrist.

You may also be requested to provide specialist reports depending on your medical history.

If you have any concerns regarding your eligibility based on a medical condition, please consult the medical guidelines in the first instance and if your question is still unanswered, please complete the PRELIMINARY MEDICAL ENQUIRY FORM.

 
DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THE MEDICAL GUIDELINES HERE.

Failure to completely disclose information will result in the cancellation of your application.

As a Police Officer, you will be expected to communicate clearly, effectively and professionally and negotiate confidently.

One of the fundamental skills a Police Officer requires is the ability to communicate effectively. It is critical that our members have the ability to give and receive verbal information in sometimes stressful situations. If an applicant is identified during the process as having a possible issue in this area, they are given the opportunity to participate in a process to assess their level of verbal communication skills in the context of operational suitability and safety.

Your communication skills, verbal and written, will be assessed at various stages of the recruitment process.

During the selection process you will be asked to declare associations. An inappropriate association is an association with a person or organisation suspected of, or known to be engaged in, or have a history of, unlawful activity. These associations will reflect on community perceptions of your integrity and ability to use authority with integrity. They may also put you in a position where associates attempt to ask you to forgo your duty or otherwise compromise your integrity as an employee of Victoria Police.

It is important that Victoria Police are aware of any association or potential conflict of interest which may compromise you or reflect adversely on the organisation. These could be family, friends, members of recreational clubs or other people you associate with. During the application you will be required to declare these. In some cases a management plan may be put in place, in others the association should be terminated. Failure to disclose any information in the applicant process may result in your application not proceeding or subject you to termination of employment.

We expect to see all Police applicants in some form of paid employment at the time of application and throughout the recruitment process.

The types of employment preferred are those that provide customer facing exposure to a cross-section of the general public e.g. hospitality, retail and customer service industries. This provides applicants with work examples that are relevant to the policing role which involves dealing with people of all walks of life in situations of elevated stress.

Note: all applicants, irrespective of age are encouraged to be in some form of paid full-time or part-time work during the recruitment process.

Applying after a period of full time parenting

If you are returning to work after a period of full time parenting for more than 4 years, it is recommended that you secure some part-time customer facing work experience before applying so that you can provide recent work examples during the recruitment process. If you have been away been away from the workforce for less than 4 years, your work experience prior to undertaking parenting responsibilities will be sufficient.

Applying straight after high school

Not every 18 year old will be ready to apply, but those who make great officers are gathering life experience while they are in high school.
We do not require pre-requisite subject selection, however any subjects that develop communication skills, languages and fitness are very useful.

The following suggestions will help younger applicants develop the life experience we expect to see in our applicants.

1. Part-time work experience in a customer service environment—provides exposure to people from all walks of life and develops communication, teamwork and conflict resolution skills e.g. working at McDonald's.
2. Volunteer experience—develops community mindedness and communication skills e.g. working at the local surf lifesaving club or community centre.
3. Sporting club experience—develops teamwork, communication and leadership skills and a healthy level of fitness which is required for the job.

4. Overseas travel—exposure to other cultures, religions, languages and fosters independence and assertiveness.

Note: If you are intending on applying once reaching the age of 18 having attained your high school VCE or VCAL, we strongly recommend that you seek to increase your customer service paid work to full time hours while going through the recruitment process.