Victoria Police Annual Report 2023-24: Our people

The Equal, Safe & Strong: Victoria Police Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2030 (Gender Equality Strategy) sets out our plan to achieve sustainable gender equality in Victoria Police by 2030. The strategy provides the foundation for regular action plans that will hold Victoria Police accountable for gender equality outcomes.

Equal, Safe & Strong: Victoria Police Gender Equality Action Plan 2022–2024 identifies priorities and directs our efforts through 29 actions aligned to the following outcome areas:

• Our culture recognises and promotes the value of gender equality.
• Leaders take ownership and proactively sustain gender equality outcomes.
• The community has trust in our response to gendered violence.
• Gender does not restrict access to flexible work, recruitment, or progression.
• Employees have confidence in our response to gendered workplace harm.
• Gendered workplace harm is minimised.

There is a requirement under the Gender Equality Act 2020 that a Gender Impact Assessment is applied to all new and amended policies and programs.

In accordance with this and the Gender Equality Action Plan, the requirement for Gender Impact Assessments to be applied to internal policies, educational programs and policing services with direct and significant impacts on the Victorian community is now standard business practice.

Under the action plan, we also completed our two-yearly Gender Audit, as required by the Act, creating a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework to measure outcomes towards the Gender Equality Action Plan and take learnings forward into the development of future action plans.

Our Diversity and Inclusion Framework 2023–2030 aims to bring diversity, inclusion, and a sense of purpose and belonging into the leadership and operational frameworks of our organisation and supports the Gender Equality Strategy.

The framework identifies numerous actions that impact all priority diversity portfolios that are required to address diversity and inclusion culture and practices.

The framework, which is supported by four inclusion action plans, focuses on long-term transformation, knowledge building, capability, performance, and accountability to promote a diverse and progressive workforce. The inclusion action plans were informed by extensive internal and external stakeholder engagement.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Inclusion Action Plan 2023–2025

Victoria Police Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Inclusion Action Plan 2023–2025.

Building relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees is imperative if we are to set the foundations for moving together towards self-determination and cultural safety in our organisation and in our service to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

Our inclusion action plan details six actions that we will deliver to improve the workplace experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees. These are:

• strengthening applicant attraction strategies
• establishing a mentoring program
• holding an annual forum
• self-determination reform
• establishing a centralised Aboriginal community liaison officer coordination function
• enhancing the Aboriginal Cultural Awareness Training undertaken by all employees.

Access and Inclusion Action Plan 2023–2024

Victoria Police Access and Inclusion Action Plan 2023–2024.

This inclusion action plan details six actions underway to improve the workplace experience of employees with disability. These are:

• promoting the uptake of special measures specified in the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 for VPS positions
• reviewing and upgrading accessibility of our intranet
• developing an accessibility checklist for the content and the delivery of training and development programs
• reviewing and promoting the reasonable adjustment guide and passport
• developing a formal process to ensure all software and applications are accessible for employees with disability
• ensuring all new construction and major renovations are fully accessible.

CALD Inclusion Action Plan 2023–2024

Victoria Police CALD Inclusion Action Plan 2023–2024.

We are proud to have a multicultural workplace, rich with people from different faiths, who speak different languages and have different ethnic backgrounds.

This inclusion action plan details three actions underway to improve the workplace experience of employees of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. These are:

• developing and implementing a mentoring program for CALD employees
• strengthening applicant attraction for people of CALD backgrounds
• developing a pilot CALD Peer Support program.

LGBTIQ+ Inclusion Action Plan 2023–2024

Victoria Police LGBTIQ+ Inclusion Action Plan 2023–2024.

This inclusion action plan details three actions underway to improve the workplace experience of employees who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning and/or asexual (LGBTIQA+). These are:

• development of an LGBTIQA+ liaison officer recruitment network
• creation of an LGBTIQA+ liaison officer workplace support guide
• development and promotion of guidelines for an inclusive workplace plan for trans and gender diverse employees and allies.

Progress towards completing the 55 Gender Equality and Diversity and Inclusion actions is monitored and governed by our Gender Equality and Inclusion Outcomes Committee.

During 2023–24, we held our second annual Aboriginal employee forum. The forum provided an opportunity for our employees to share stories of the cultural burden experienced within their roles and to discuss the support they need to feel safe both in their roles and their communities.

We supported the establishment and launch of the new Hindu Employee Network run by and for our Hindu employees. The network strives to create safe and inclusive space across the organisation to build stronger bonds and share valuable information about Hindu culture and traditions.

In February 2024, we completed an Employee Network Review in consultation with network members and command champions. The review aimed to ensure that employee networks were contemporary, by improving diversity and inclusion practices, including recruitment, retention and progression of diverse staff.

We retained our silver tier employer status in the Australian Workplace Equality Index in 2023–24. The Australian Workplace Equality Index is a measure of our inclusion of LGBTIQA+ employees.

We also conducted trans and gender diverse inclusion awareness training. We are committed to employment practices and standards that are fair, equitable and inclusive by improving our capacity to employ, develop and retain people with disability.

During 2023–24, we launched disability awareness training. The training aims to build disability confidence in all employees by covering disability essentials, workplace adjustments and inclusive recruitment.

This demonstrates our ongoing commitment to employees and the Victorian community to achieve the whole-of-government target of 12 per cent of VPS staff being people with disability by 2025.

The Victoria Police Diversity Recruitment Program was a partnership with us and:

• Jesuit Social Services
• Victoria University
• AMES Australia
• African-Australian Multicultural Employment and Youth Services
• Matchworks
• Maurice Blackburn Lawyers
• Jobs Victoria
• Department of Education.

This program supported applicants from culturally-diverse communities (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Māori or Pasifika applicants and applicants who are of Middle Eastern, East and South Asian, South American and African heritage) to prepare and navigate the recruitment process to become police officers, PSOs or PCOs.

The program started in 2018 and was expanded to a 15-week accredited course where students were taught entrance exam preparation skills, fitness, swimming and first aid.

All participants were matched with a Victoria Police mentor, attended a tour of the Victoria Police Academy and received presentations from guest speakers throughout the course.

Upon completion, Jesuit Social Services provided help during the recruitment phase and staff from our Centre for Law and Operational Development coordinated ongoing help and mentoring during training at the Victoria Police Academy.

Since 2018, 202 people from more than 53 cultures have completed the 15-week program. In 2023–24, 18 course graduated from the Victoria Police Academy, including 13 police officers, two PSOs and three PCOs.

The Victoria Police Diversity Recruitment Program formally concluded on 30 June 2024. We are truly grateful to our partners for their commitment and passion in delivering the Victoria Police Diversity Recruitment Program over the last six years.

Reported incidents decreased by nine per cent from the previous year, to 3809 in 2023–24.

In October 2023, we launched the Eastern Region Health and Wellbeing Hub to better equip our people to prevent injuries and act quickly when they are sustained. The Eastern Region Hub is comprised of mental health clinicians, injury management consultants, educators, psychosocial health and safety consultants, career advisors and human resources business partners.

These specialists are embedded within the region and are accessible to all Eastern Region employees. We have enhanced our Employee Assistance Program to ensure that specialist treatment is available to employees, enabling targeted care pathways.

Notes: (a) Data sourced from Victorian WorkCover Authority. The date the claim is lodged has determined which financial year it is reported in. Due to the dynamic nature of claim data, figures may vary from that reported in earlier financial years.

(b) Data reported in 2021–22 has been updated to reflect current point-in-time data and to address variance in methodology.

(c) Victoria Police regions and commands conduct quarterly OHS committee meetings, with involvement from their dedicated health and safety representatives. System capability does not extend to recording the number of meetings.

(d) Senior sergeants and above receive occupational health and safety training during promotional and mandatory annual leadership training (recruits also receive foundational training during induction). There is no specific training data that can be attributed to these groupings.

(e) Contractors and temporary employees attending a police facility sign-in and complete a station induction program. Local record keeping is not digitised.

(f) The percentage of health and safety representatives was not available in 2021–22 and 2022–23, as the total number varied. In 2023–24 a process was employed to accurately account for this variance.