Research

Victoria Police is committed to undertaking and supporting research to deliver best practice police services to the Victorian community.

We seek to ensure research is aligned with organisational strategic priorities.

The below document contains the research priorities for 2023-2024. Victoria Police has developed these priorities to align with our strategic plan.

Requests for access to police data, information or personnel for research purposes will be assessed and prioritised against these priorities.

Research is undertaken by various departments within Victoria Police, as well as external research organisations.

Victoria Police has built strong research collaborations through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grants program(opens in a new window). 

Conducting research with Victoria Police

Victoria Police is open to facilitating researchers who are interested in undertaking projects aligned with our research priorities and organisational strategic priorities.

If you wish to conduct research with Victoria Police, then you must satisfy the relevant application processes.

Applying to conduct research with Victoria Police

Download forms here:

If you wish to conduct research using Victoria Police personnel, data or resources:

• all external researchers are required to seek approval from the Victoria Police Research Coordinating Committee (RCC)
• The Research Coordinating Committee (RCC) will review applications for proposed research applications from:
  • external individuals and research organisations wishing to undertake research
  • Victoria Police employees who wish to conduct research for the purposes of gaining an academic qualification.

The Research Coordinating Committee (RCC) will review applications for proposed research applications against a number of criteria, including:

• the potential application of results to police work
• the utility and validity of the research
• privacy, confidentiality and data security compliance
• the impact that the project demands may have on police resources
• the alignment of the research with the Victoria Police research priorities.

The Victoria Police Human Research Ethics Committee (VPHREC) is registered with the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and considers the ethical acceptability of research proposals from external organisations and internal researchers wishing to conduct research involving Victoria Police personnel or data.

VPHREC is available for internal projects, and for external projects when no other ethics committees are available.

Applications considered by the VPHREC ensure that:

• all research involving human participants that is conducted by external researchers or commissioned by Victoria Police, complies with the principles and guidelines set out in the National Statement for Ethical Conduct in Human Research (the National Statement)
• the welfare and the rights of participants in research are protected
• there is a coordinated approach to research activities within Victoria Police.

The Victoria Police Human Research Ethics Committee (VPHREC) and the Justice Human Research Ethics Committee (JHREC)(opens in a new window) have established a streamlined review process, in accordance with the National Statement, for projects that involve Victoria Police together with areas of the Department of Justice and Regulation (Victoria).

Researchers will need to contact the VPHREC Secretary to confirm whether their project is suitable for the streamlined review process.

Projects deemed suitable for streamlined review will now only be required to complete a JHREC Application form, which includes the Victoria Police and Department of Justice and Regulation components of their research project in the one JHREC application form.

Such applications will be considered at a JHREC meeting with VPHREC representatives in attendance.

Research protocols

The Research Protocols have been designed to inform and assist external researchers and research organisations wishing to undertake research with Victoria Police.

Please refer to the Research protocols when preparing your application to the Research Coordinating Committee (RCC) and Victoria Police Human Research Ethics Committee (VPHREC).

The protocols also refer to other documents such as legislation and standards.

Contact

You can contact the Policing Research Unit with any questions or feedback via the following channels:

General research enquiries

Email: research@police.vic.gov.au

Research Coordinating Committee (RCC)

Email: research.committee@police.vic.gov.au

Victoria Police Human Research Ethics Committee (VPHREC)

• Email: ethics.committee@police.vic.gov.au
• Phone: 03 8335 6222