A career as a protective services officer (PSO) offers excellent work benefits. This includes a great salary, superannuation package and flexible work arrangements.
Salary and pay entitlements for PSOs
You will be paid to train and learn from day one at the Victoria Police Academy.
From the first day of your Academy training, you will begin on your base salary of $75,251.
After you graduate, you will also receive shift penalties for working nights, weekends and public holidays.
Salary progression
You may receive salary increment increases in accordance with the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement. This is if you qualify under the Professional Development Assessment.
Tax and superannuation
Your income as a PSO is a taxable income. You will be taxed like any other employee in Australia.
Victoria Police staff are members of the Emergency Services Super Fund. For more information, visit the Emergency Services Super Fund website.
Contributions to Emergency Services Super Fund can be salary packaged.
Allowances and leave
After graduation, you will be entitled to shift allowances on top of your salary. This is due to the hours you will be working.
As a sworn member of Victoria Police, you will be entitled to:
- nine weeks of leave per year
- 15 days of sick leave per year
- parental leave
- study leave
- purchased leave
- three months of long-service leave with full-pay, or six months on half-pay after 10 years of service. It is possible to access your accrued long service leave on a pro-rata basis after seven years of service.
Hours and shifts
PSOs are required to work a variety of shifts. This can include:
- weekends
- night shifts
- public holidays.
The majority of PSOs shifts will be spent patrolling train stations and their surrounds.
Shifts will commence at a designated Police Station at 4pm each day, however there are additional Night Network shifts that commence at 8pm each Friday and Saturday evening.
Ordinary hours
All operational PSO shifts are 10 hours in duration. This totals eight shifts per fortnight.
PSOs are also expected to start shifts at various times and locations.
After hours work
The nature of PSO work means you will need to work hours outside of a regular 9am to 5pm.
These include:
- intrusive hours (1am to 7am)
- unsociable hours (6pm to 1am).
You will attract shift allowances for each of these hours worked.
Flexible working arrangements
Victoria Police provides employees with reasonable flexibility in working arrangements, such as part-time work.
This is where operational and service delivery priorities allow.
Part-time hours
You can apply for a part-time work arrangement at the start of the recruitment process. Part-time PSOs will be rostered for a minimum of 40 hours per fortnight.
You will need to undertake 12 weeks of full-time training, even if you have a part-time PSO role. You will start your part-time role once you finish your training.
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