Frequently asked questions about PCO applications

• baton
• handcuffs
• OC spray

In considering your application, Victoria Police will look for evidence that demonstrates that you are able to work as part of a team, are conscientious and able to act professionally.

We will do this by looking at what roles you have performed and what behaviours you have demonstrated either in paid work, volunteer work or in another environment where you are required to work as part of a team e.g. sports team.

No you do not need to have any existing knowledge of the law as we will teach you what you need to know during your training.

No you do not need to have any tertiary qualifications to be considered for this role.

However you do need to be 18 years of age or above at the time of applying.

PCOs will be rostered on day, afternoon and night shift. Shifts last for 8.06 hours and include a half hour meal break.

The start and finish times may vary depending on location:

Day shift: commencing between 6am and 10am

Afternoon shift: commencing between 2pm and 6pm

Night shift: commencing between 10pm and 12 midnight

Victoria Police will roster PCOs for 76 hours per fortnight over an average of 10 days per fortnight within the full span of 24 hours a day. PCOs shifts will be subject to service delivery requirements of the local area.

While this position will have a nominated usual place of work, the position may be required to work at other locations in accordance with the provisions of the VPS Agreement 2016.

1. Bairnsdale
2. Ballarat
3. Bendigo
4. Broadmeadows
5. Dandenong
6. Frankston
7. Geelong
8. Heidelberg
9. Horsham
10. Melbourne West
11. Mildura
12. Mill Park
13. Moorabbin
14. Morwell
15. Ringwood
16. Sale
17. Shepparton
18. Sunshine
19. Swan Hill
20. Wangaratta
21. Warrnambool
22. Wodonga

When you submit an online application, you can indicate whether you are only interested in this position as a part time role. If you then make it to offer stage, we will talk to you about what part time hours you would like to work.

Please note that at this stage, there are no part time arrangements for training.

For the first two years at least there will be no rank structure. That may change subject to a formal review after two years.

You will be able to apply for another location if a vacancy comes up however each application will be treated on a case by case basis.

Yes. You will only need to submit one application, but list all locations desired in order of preference.

You cannot have concurrent PCO applications running.

No, you cannot have concurrent Victoria Police applications running.  You will need to decide which application you are wanting to pursue and withdraw from the other applications that are active.

You will be able to sign up for job alerts by registering via the careers centre so that you can receive an e-mail when vacancies become available in your preferred location.

Sign into the Careers Centre portal and login to set up your job alert.

Go to the police custody officer recruitment portal(opens in a new window).

The training salary (Foundation course) is $55,059, plus 11% superannuation, plus penalty rates and shift allowances. 

Post training salary will range from $56,834 to $72,985, plus 11% superannuation, plus penalty rates and shift allowances. 

Monday to Friday

• afternoon shift – 15% x hourly rate
• night shift – 20% x hourly rate

Saturday

• day/afternoon/night shift – 50% x hourly rate

Sunday

• day/afternoon/night shift – 100% x hourly rate

Public holiday

• day/afternoon/night shift – 150% x hourly rate or 50% x hourly rate + 1 day in lieu accrued

11% of base salary.

• Up to five weeks leave per annum plus time off lieu for public holidays
• 14 weeks maternity leave
• two weeks paternity leave
• Defence force leave
• 15 personal leave days

Yes, income as a police custody officer like any member of Victoria Police (employee in Australia) is a taxable income.

The eligibility requirements for the police custody officer role are:

• must be over 18 years of age
• must be an Australian Citizen or permanent resident (restrictions may apply)
• must hold full or probationary Australian drivers licence (must be transferred to Victorian drivers licence at commencement of employment)
• must hold Level 1 First Aid Certificate valid for 12 months at commencement of employment
• must not have any outstanding warrants, payment orders or payment plans in relation to traffic or parking infringements.

The Victoria Police Act stipulates that to join Victoria Police, you must be an Australian Citizen, or hold Australian permanent residency. New Zealand Citizens who are residing in Victoria are deemed to be permanent residents for the purpose of our requirements.

You will be eligible to apply if you have an accepted Australian permanent residency. A number of classifications are not eligible to apply. To determine if your residency status is acceptable, please send your passport details and relevant documents to pcoemployment@police.vic.gov.au

You will need to check the conditions of your redundancy package as these vary from department to department.

If you have any concerns about your eligibility due to a medical condition, please consult our Medical guidelines.

Check the prior history guidelines to see if a prior offence will affect your application.

• beep test (5.01)
• Illinois agility run (20 seconds)
• grip test (30kg in each hand)
• push ups (5 successive push ups on toes)
• prone bridge (hold for 60 seconds)

No, Victoria Police prohibits its employees to undertake any form of secondary employment or unpaid work in the security/investigative industry.

Employees who hold a current private agents licence may not commence duty as a police custody officer until the licence has been rescinded.

Police custody officer applicants must have a valid driver’s licence to apply that is issued in a state or territory within Australia. Upon induction into the Academy, a driver’s licence issued by the State of Victoria will be required unless the employee is residing in NSW. Probationary licences are accepted.

The application form contains questions regarding:

• personal details
• employment and education history
• prior history and dealings with police
• reasoning for applying
• three key selection criteria

You will need access to a computer that has one of the following web browsers:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0, 8.0
• Mozilla Firefox 3.0, 3.5, 3.6
• Safari 3.2, 4.0, 5.0
• Chrome 5.0
• Opera 10.0, 10.5

Please note – iPads and iPhones are not compatible with the online application form because these devices do not use a standard file structure which may prevent the user from attaching documents to their application form.

Applicants attempting to submit their application from a Department of Defence computer system are also likely to incur problems due to applied security settings.

No, you can log back into the system on multiple occasions to complete your application before the closing date.

However it is important to note that the system will not automatically save your information until you proceed to the next step so you must frequently hit the save button (located on the bottom of each page) to ensure that you do not have to enter information more than once.

Birth certificates can be obtained through the Births and Deaths department of the state and country in which you were born.

Applicants do not need to physically be there to obtain their birth certificate. Some birth certificates can be applied for over the internet or through a family member.

Birth extracts, identity cards, Statutory Declarations, high school results, affidavits and consulate birth certificates will not be accepted as substitutes for a birth certificate.

In a case where there is absolutely no way to obtain a birth certificate, a letter is required from the overseas local area administration stating that the original birth certificate is not available for you.

The police custody officer employment team will coordinate the assessment of:

• character and reputation
• psychological suitability
• medical suitability
• fitness capability
• cognitive ability
• verbal communication capability
• non-verbal communication capability
• computer skills

After applications close, the recruitment process will take approximately 3 to 9 months to complete before offers of employment are made.

All students will be given laptop. Delivery will be blended and include classroom and e-learning components. Following on from initial training period, PCOs will follow an operational learning framework for 12 weeks (probation ends on completion of this 12 weeks). For the workplace placements and the 12 weeks post training, workplace coaches will be trained to provide support.

Foundation course

Eight weeks in duration

Custody administration

Week 1 to 3: Custody administration. First week: observational shift on Friday

Week 4: Workplace placement. No direct contact with detainees

Persons in custody wellbeing

Week 5 to 6: Persons in custody wellbeing issues and summative assessment

Week 7: Workplace placement. Direct contact with detainees.

Week 8: Incident management, self-awareness training, offender wellbeing simulation.

Week 9 to 20: On the job training following operational learning framework

Recognised currency competency

Five weeks in duration

Week 1: Diagnostic assessments to determine level of knowledge and expertise

Week 2: Understanding IT systems and Operational safety

Week 3 and Week 4: Workplace placement. Custody administration and prisoner management

Week 5: Incident management and final assessments

Week 6 to Week 17: On the job training following operational learning framework

Yes, your accommodation will be provided.

Unfortunately you cannot take leave during training unless it’s leave allocated by the Education Department. Training at the Academy is physically and mentally demanding, there’s a lot to fit in during your training and it will take all your dedication to succeed.

Victoria Police has a responsibility to both applicants and the broader community to be diligent in its employment activities. The assessments of suitability are individually genuine and based on a thorough understanding of what we are employing people to do. The Chief Commissioner or their authorised delegate will at all times retain the right as an employer to choose to employ or not employ an applicant.  Applicants are assessed holistically against set criteria to determine their relative competitiveness in the selection process. There are only three specific areas that can be reviewed under the Victoria Police Recruitment Policy. They are;

• Character and Reputation Assessments - An applicant who has a prior offence history that indicates disrespect of the law or the community, or whose past behaviour is not aligned to the Victoria Police organisational values may be considered to not be of good character and reputation. If an applicant is unsuccessful on the basis of prior history, a request to review the outcome can be made via Manager of Recruiting Services Branch on the provision that the applicant has not been permanently excluded from applying in future.  If the Manager of Recruiting Services Branch deems a review of outcome plausible, your case will be presented to the Executive Review Panel (ERP).  The decision of the ERP is binding and applicants should note that the outcome may exclude them from applying for longer than was originally directed. 
• Medical/Health – Reviews will be conducted by the Medical Advisory Unit on request.  
• Psychological screening – Applicants may request a review of the process of the assessment but not the outcome. Not agreeing with the assessment does not form grounds for review/appeal.

All requests for review must be directed to pcoemployment@police.vic.gov.au in the first instance.

Leave requests will be treated fairly and in line with operational and service delivery needs.

As a Victoria Police employee, you will be allowed to go on leave without pay during the period of your training. If you successfully complete training and want to continue, you will then be required to resign from your original position. If you find during training that you no longer want to continue the role, you will be allowed to go back to your original position.

Yes, you will be required to wear a uniform. Victoria Police will issue you with shirts , pants, boots, socks and jackets for this purpose.

The probation period will be for six months.

There is currently no transition course in place. If you do decide to apply for a police or PSO role, you will be required to submit an online application in the same way that other applicants need to.

It depends on when this trip is. It may be possible that you can still take part in the recruitment process and still go on your trip and then come back to a new job at the end of it! Please contact pcoemployment@police.vic.gov.au to see what is possible.

Victoria Police has recently updated their policy regarding Uniform and Appearance Standards, which includes direction around tattoos/body art and piercings. 

Employees are required to project an image that is consistent with a professional and disciplined law enforcement agency.

No visible offensive, or inappropriate tattoos are permitted. 

Offensive or inappropriate tattoos

These are tattoos that include words, images or objects that are, or could be perceived to: 

• be obscene, violent, defamatory, sexually explicit, discriminatory, harassing, insulting, threatening or racially intolerant 
• constitute sexual harassment, or that are discriminatory or vilifying under equal opportunity legislation
• be incompatible with Victoria Police's role, and could affect our reputation, or diminish public confidence.

Face, neck and head tattoos

Tattoos of the face, head and front of the neck are not permitted.

Neck tattoos on the rear of the neck may be permitted, but must not extend forward of the neck, beyond an imaginary line drawn vertically from behind the back of the ear down to the shoulder.

Existing employees are not permitted to get additional body art on the face, head and/or front of the neck. All employees must cover or remove all body art or modifications that are offensive or inappropriate while on duty. 

Hand tattoos

Hand tattoos may be permitted.

Leg and arm tattoos

Tattoos on the legs and arms will be permitted.

Tattoo questions

Current or future applicants with tattoos/body art on the head, face, neck or hands should email pcoemployment@police.vic.gov.au.

Beards are permitted provided they are:
- grown while on leave, or otherwise absent from duty
- grown for a minimum of three weeks prior to resuming duty 
- full face that includes a moustache  
- trimmed to follow the underside of the jawline and the neck is   clean shaven
- kept neat, clean and close trimmed
- not to exceed 20 mm in length 
- not extreme in style or colour. 

It is Victoria Police policy to employee at the base of the VPS salary grade. 

If you currently have a high salary with comparable transferable skills, you can apply for a Salary Above Base up to the top of the VPS salary grade. 

The training salary is $55,059, plus 11% superannuation, plus penalty rates and shift allowances. 

Post training salary will range from $56,834 to $72,985, plus 11% superannuation, plus penalty rates and shift allowances.