Working with Victoria Police is fast-paced and can be physically and psychologically demanding.
You must meet a standard of medical requirements to be successful. This ensures you will be able to serve the community safely and effectively.
Who must undertake a medical assessment
You must meet a set of minimum medical requirements to apply to the role of:
Certain medical conditions can impact your job performance and ability to undertake your work.
These assessments ensure you can carry out your role safely, for both yourself, your colleagues and the community. You must be able to perform to a high standard both physically and psychologically.
Police and PSO medical assessments
Police and PSO applicants must complete a two-stage medical assessment process:
- complete a Health Declaration Document
- complete a Medical Assessment with a General Practitioner (GP) and an ear specialist and an eye specialist.
Step 1: Health Declaration
Applicants must:
- complete the Health Declaration and return it within seven days
- include all past and current illnesses, injuries, and health conditions, regardless of when they occurred, including dates, treatment received, and any relevant reports.
Step 2: Medical Assessment
Applicants deemed suitable to progress based on their health declaration, will be emailed a Medical Booklet and instructions by the Victoria Police Medical Advisory Unit.
The completed Medical Booklet must be returned within 28 days of receipt.
The Medical Booklet must be completed by:
- an audiologist or audiometrist for a hearing assessment
- an optometrist or ophthalmologist for a vision assessment
- a medical practitioner/GP who has access to the previous five years (minimum) of your medical records.
In addition to the above, applicants may be directed by the Medical Advisory Unit to obtain medical specialist reports relating to past and current illnesses, injuries and health conditions to support a holistic assessment to ensure that they can carry out the role safely for themselves, their colleagues, and the community.
You will need to pay for all costs associated with this stage.
PCO medical assessments
You must meet certain medical requirements to be a police custody officer.
As part of your application, a medical booklet will be provided to you. You will need to complete:
- a self-assessment of your health
- an examination by a GP.
As part of this medical assessment process, you need to:
- have your hearing assessed and certified by an audiologist or audiometrist
- have your vision assessed and certified by an ophthalmologist or optometrist.
You may also need to provide specialist reports depending on your medical history.
You will need to pay for all costs associated with this stage.
Medical standards and medical conditions for all applicants
You may be asked about a variety of conditions through your holistic assessment.
This helps us to assess whether applicants living with certain conditions can undertake the demanding aspects of police, PSO, and PCO roles.
Living with any of the below examples, or other conditions, does not mean you cannot apply or are unfit for duty. Many police officers, PSOs, or PCOs who live with a variety of conditions passed their medical assessment.
Examples of conditions the holistic assessment looks at includes:
- any cardiovascular history (such as living with angina, a pacemaker, hypertension, Atrio-ventricular (AV) blocks)
- some ear, nose, and throat (ENT) conditions (such as vertigo, tinnitus, Meniere's Disease)
- if you live with certain respiratory conditions
- ongoing musculoskeletal conditions (such as damaged spine, hip, wrist, shoulder)
- certain neurological conditions (such as previous brain injuries, seizures, neuromuscular and cerebrovascular disorders)
- some gastrointestinal conditions (such as pancreatitis, chronic liver disease, post-bariatric surgery complications).
Commercial drivers standard
Within the medical standards for Victoria Police, there is an expectation that police officers and PSOs medically at a minimum meet the commercial driver standard as per Australian Roads Assessing Fitness to Drive section 4.2.
PCOs are medically at a minimum required to meet the private driving standards.
Learn more about commercial vehicle licensing for emergency services and first responders.
Hepatitis B vaccination
Police work can, at times, involve dealing with people who are bleeding.
Hepatitis B is a potentially serious infection caused by a blood borne virus. There is a vaccine which provides protection against this.
This means we need you to demonstrate hepatitis B immunity before you start your training.
Please chat with your doctor as this falls under the medical/psychological assessment process.
You may have already been vaccinated and had a blood test to check your immunity level. If so, ask your doctor to tick this in the Certificate of Suitability-Medical and Psychological Fitness.
A full course of hepatitis B vaccine consists of three doses (or more in some cases). A blood test to confirm immunity should take place four to six weeks after the last dose.
It will take at least four months to complete the vaccination schedule, including a follow-up blood test.
If you have any questions, please ask your doctor.
Medical condition enquiry form
If you are unsure if your current or previous medical condition will affect your application as a police officer, PSO or PCO, complete the Preliminary Medical Enquiry form.
This will help us to assess your eligibility before you apply.
Send the completed form to OUR-PEOPLE-MEDICAL-RECRUIT-ENQUIRIES-MGR@police.vic.gov.au.
False, incomplete or misleading information
You must be honest in all information you share in your application and submitted forms.
If you submit incorrect, misleading or false information about your medical history:
- we may cancel your application, or
- we may apply an exclusion period to your application.
Transgender applicants
We welcome transgender applicants to join Victoria Police. All applicants are assessed on an individual basis.
Learn more about how we value diversity and our Victoria Police LGBTIQA+ employee networks.
Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) claims
We recommend that you finalise any pending DVA claims before you apply.
Other guidelines for applicants
Prior history guidelines for applicants
Check our guidelines to see if a prior offence will affect your application with Victoria Police.
Four steps to put yourself forward
For the best chance of success, follow these steps:
Already started your application?
Continue your police officer application by logging in to our careers portal.
Common questions about Victoria Police medical assessments
Frequent queries about how medical assessments work for police officer, PSO, and PCO applicants.
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