Prior interstate and international policing experience

Prior policing experience may be recognised in the Victoria Police recruitment process. This includes experience across Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Prior policing experience we recognise

You are eligible to apply for recognition of prior service in your police application if:

you served as an operational police officer in in Australia, New Zealand or the United Kingdom, and
you meet the residency requirements (citizen or permanent resident).

We assess each application on an individual basis.

Please note, this does not include:

Non-Commissioned Officers from New Zealand, or
Special Constables from the United Kingdom.

Prior policing experience we don't recognise

We do not award recognition from jurisdictions outside Australia, New Zealand or the United Kingdom. This is due to significant differences in law, policies and procedures.

We do not offer lateral transfer between police services within Australia. We also do not recognise prior military service.

If we recognise your prior experience

If you have recognised prior policing experience, you may still need to complete:

the Victoria Police entrance exam
background checks
health checks (including medical examination)
psychological testing
a panel interview
a skills gap analysis (Individual Training and Assessment Plan).

Police exam exemptions

If your prior policing experience is from the past five years, you may be exempt from the exam.

You may also be exempt if you are currently employed in Australian, New Zealand or United Kingdom policing jurisdictions.

This is at the discretion of the Recruiting Services Branch.

Skills gap analysis

You may have to take an individual skills gap analysis. This will assess your current knowledge of:

Victorian law
Victoria Police policy
operational procedures.

Three assessors will run the assessment day. It includes an interview and practical assessments.

The results of the analysis will:

determine if you are suitable for abridged training
form the basis of your Individual Training and Assessment Plan
provide an approximate training duration.

Next steps

The first step in the recruitment process is to apply to be a police officer.

Please include any prior interstate or international policing experience you have.

Even if we can’t recognise your experience, it may assist your application.

Please note, you must be in Victoria during the recruitment process.