Victoria Police Annual Report 2025-26: Our organisation

Victoria Police was established in 1853 and provides policing services to the Victorian community 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

We work every day to keep all Victorians safe.

Our vision

Our vision is for a safe Victoria, where everyone is safe and feels safe. We are committed to building trust and confidence, reducing crime and harm and enabling our people to deliver exceptional policing services.

Through intelligence-informed decision-making, a prevention-focused approach and strong partnerships, we work to strengthen community safety and support the Victorian community.

Our role

Our role is to serve the Victorian community and uphold the law to promote a safe, secure and orderly society. We achieve this by:

preserving the peace
protecting life and property
preventing the commission of offences
detecting and apprehending offenders
helping those in need of assistance.

Our values

Our values are central to who we are. They define what we stand for, guide how we behave, and underpin every decision and action we take. They reflect our commitment to the Victorian community and to each other, setting the standard for how we honour the responsibilities entrusted to us.

The trust and confidence of the community are fundamental to our ability to serve. Together, our values provide the foundation for earning and maintaining that trust, guiding the behaviours that strengthen our relationships with the community, our partners and each other.

Our values are:

Compassion
We act with compassion through tolerance, understanding and impartiality.
Respect
We treat everyone fairly, with dignity and respect; they are valued and included.
Integrity
We act with integrity and honour, being fair and respectful of both the law and human rights.
Professionalism
We are accountable and professional; committed to maintaining the highest standards of conduct and presentation.
Courage
We act with courage and uphold the values in the face of adversity.

Our services

Victoria Police operates under the Victoria Police Act 2013 and delivers policing services in support of A Safe Victoria, Victoria Police’s strategy, and the Community First operating model.

Our approach is focused on visible policing presence, prevention of crime and harm, and effective responses to emergencies, incidents and community needs.

Services are delivered through a combination of frontline policing, specialist capabilities and partnerships that support safer outcomes for Victorians.

Our current services are grouped across three core areas:

Presence
- highly-visible policing – more street than station
- intelligence-informed policing
- proactive policing activities aimed at harm reduction
- community engagement with a focus on victims, priority groups and those at risk
Prevention
- deterrence, early intervention through partnerships and community safety initiatives
- disrupting, preventing and detecting crime
- regulatory services that prevent harm through education, compliance and enforcement activities
Response
- responding to emergencies, critical incidents and major events
- investigating and prosecuting crime
- victim support and offender management.

These services are delivered through a range of pathways, including in-person policing, digital and phone channels, and on-site services.

This includes police patrols, road policing, community engagement activities, emergency and non-emergency reporting channels, online reporting, police stations, court services, deployment and offender processing centres, and multidisciplinary centres.

Find further information about our services, including regional maps.

Victoria Police regions

Victoria Police serves the Victorian community across four regions. These are:

North West Metro Region — encompassing inner western and northern areas of Melbourne, across five divisions
Southern Metro Region — serving Melbourne’s southern and bayside communities, across four divisions
Eastern Region — a geographically-diverse region, incorporating metropolitan, rural, and alpine areas, across six divisions
Western Region — the largest geographic area covering 60 per cent of the state, across six divisions.

These regional boundaries correspond with regions used by other Victorian Government departments, enhancing the delivery of government services, particularly in emergency management

Map of Victoria regions

Victoria Police divisional regions, North West Metro region, Southern Metro region, Eastern region and Western region.

Download 'Map of Victoria regions'

Our operating environment

Victoria Police operates under the Victoria Police Act. Disclosures required under the Act and other legislation, as well as additional reporting requirements, are presented in Chapter 5 – Other disclosures.

Our organisational structure

Three Deputy Commissioners and one Deputy Secretaries support the Chief Commissioner of Police.

The Deputy Commissioner, Regional Operations, is responsible for the oversight of:
- all four police regions, and,
- the State Emergencies and Support Command.
The Deputy Commissioner, Specialist Investigations and Support, is responsible for the oversight of the:
- Crime and Counter Terrorism Investigation Services
- Road Policing
- State Emergencies, and
- Public Order and Forensic Services.
The Deputy Commissioner, Prevention, Community and Partnership is responsible for the oversight of:
- Partnerships and Safe Communities
- Prevention
- Intelligence
- Evidence
- Data Insights
- Continuous Improvement
- Uplift and Technology, and
- Professional Standards.
The Deputy Secretary, Corporate Services, is responsible for the oversight of
- Our People
- Digital and Infrastructure Services
- Financial Services
- Legal Services, and
- Corporate Strategy and Governance.

Organisational chart as at 30 June 2026

Download 'Organisational chart as at 30 June 2026'

Senior leadership group

Executive Leadership Board

The Executive Leadership Board is the primary decision-making body for Victoria Police and comprises the Chief Commissioner of Police, Deputy Commissioners and Deputy Secretary.

The board is responsible for providing leadership, strategic direction and oversight for the organisation, setting culture and modelling Victoria Police values.

As at 30 June 2026, the members of the Executive Leadership Board were:

Mike Bush CNZM – Chief Commissioner of Police
Robert Hill APM – Deputy Commissioner, Regional Operations
Elizabeth Murphy APM – Deputy Commissioner, Specialist Investigations and Support
Tim Hansen APM – Deputy Commissioner, Prevention, Community and Partnerships
Karl Kent OAM – Deputy Secretary, Corporate Services.

Command is made up of the:
- Chief Commissioner of Police
- Deputy Commissioners
- Deputy Secretary
- Assistant Commissioners
- Executive Directors
- Commanders, and
- Directors.
Command meets twice a year to discuss current and emerging community and organisational matters.
The Chief Commissioner of Police is the Chief Constable and the Chief Executive Officer of Victoria Police under the Victoria Police Act and the Public Administration Act 2004 respectively.
The Chief Commissioner of Police may delegate duties, functions and powers to employees at differing ranks and levels.
Decision-making occurs through Instruments of Delegation and through functional lines across the organisational and governance structures, as set out and approved by the Chief Commissioner of Police.

Committees

The Victoria Police governance structure includes standing executive, corporate and advisory committees that support decision making, risk management and organisational performance.

During 2025–26, we undertook a review of our governance and committee arrangements in response to the organisational redesign and the introduction of the A Safe Victoria, the Victoria Police strategy, and associated operating frameworks.

The review strengthened governance oversight, aligned committee structures with organisational priorities and supported effective decision-making and accountability.

For 2025–26, the key committees are listed in the table below.

Decision-making committees

Committee	Focus
Executive Leadership Board – meets daily on contemporary issues and monthly on strategic issues	Primary decision-making and oversight body for Victoria Police on matters which have organisation-wide impacts including, strategic and long-term priorities, new policy and strategic projects, financial and resourcing matters, risk management, major investment, and organisational reform.
Uplift Steering Committee – meets monthly	Provides oversight and direction for the Uplift Program which comprises six workstreams to drive innovation across Victoria Police. The six Uplift Program workstreams are: Organisational Redesign Recruitment, Retention and Return Information Technology Optimisation Operating Model and Bureaucracy Reduction Leadership at every level Police Assistance Line and Online Reporting Refresh.
Victoria Police Strategic Finance and Budget Committee^(a) – meets monthly	Provides oversight of budget- and finance-related matters. The committee is responsible for: overseeing the implementation and ongoing monitoring of financial management strategies and savings initiatives supporting prioritisation of budget and resource allocation assessing the funding implications of decisions driving budget accountability across Victoria Police, and making recommendations to the Executive Leadership Board on matters with material financial implications.
Asset Strategy and Procurement Committee – meets monthly	Provides oversight and governance of the strategic direction and policy priorities of physical and digital asset management, procurement, information management and cyber security for Victoria Police. The committee also supports Victoria Police in fulfilling its obligations under the Victorian Government Asset Management Accountability Framework and Victorian Government Purchasing Board.
Safety Committee – meets monthly	Provides oversight of Victoria Police safety and wellbeing performance including key indicators related to safety leadership and workplace culture. The Committee also assists in ensuring Victoria Police appropriately acquits its statutory and regulatory safety and wellbeing obligations. The committee ensures effective management of safety-related risks, while maintaining continual improvement of safety system, practices and outcomes.
Resourcing Committee – meets monthly	Provides strategic leadership in relation to workforce resourcing matters, including attraction, recruitment, staff allocation, training, retention and capacity to enable Victoria Police to deliver against its priorities.
State Operations, Tasking and Coordination – meets monthly	Leads the state-level operations, tasking and coordination process. Provides an evidence-based, intelligence-informed process of prioritising issues, risks and threats, planning effective responses, allocating tasks and coordinating resources to improve community safety.
First Peoples Committee ^(b) – meets every three months	Leads the state-level tasking and coordination process. Provides an evidence-based, intelligence-led process of prioritising issues, risks and threats, planning effective responses, allocating tasks and coordinating resources to improve community safety.

_Note:
_{(a) The committee includes independent members and/or external observers.}

Advisory committee

Committee

Focus

Audit and Risk Committee^(a) – meets once every three months (plus one special meeting to review Victoria Police’s annual financial statements)

Required by the Standing Directions 2018 of the Minister for Finance under the Financial Management Act 1994, the committee provides independent assurance and assistance to the Chief Commissioner of Police regarding our financial, risk, control, and compliance frameworks, in addition to our external accountability responsibilities. Maintains effective communication with external auditors and considers recommendations from internal and external auditors.

^Note:
^{(a) The committee includes independent members and external observers.}

Oversight and assurance

Audit and Risk Committee

The Audit and Risk Committee is established under the Financial Management Act 1994. Its objective is to provide independent assurance and assistance to the Chief Commissioner of Police in relation to our risk, control and compliance framework, and external accountability responsibilities.

The committee has no executive powers, except those expressly provided by the Standing Directions 2018 of the Minister for Finance, and powers that may be delegated to it from time to time by the Chief Commissioner of Police.

All committee members are external to Victoria Police. The Audit and Risk Committee members as 30 June 2026 were:

Sandra (Sam) Andersen (Chair) LLB CPA FAICD FFin
Stephen Fontana APM
Megan Haas
Ramaswamy (Narayan) Prasad MBA FCPA GAICD.

In accordance with the Standing Directions issued under the Financial Management Act, Victoria Police maintains an internal audit function (Standing Direction 3.2.2 – Internal Audit).
Where required, internal audit provides an independent and objective assessment of how effectively the organisation manages its governance, risks, and controls. The Standing Direction requires that the internal audit function is independent of management.
Our internal audit function continues as a co-sourced arrangement under a commercial contract with KPMG. In 2025–26, Scyne Advisory was appointed as Victoria Police’s secondary service provider.
Our internal audit program includes compliance and performance reviews, with outcomes and mitigation actions reported to the Executive Leadership Board and the Audit and Risk Committee.
Victoria Police, external agencies and oversight bodies conduct reviews, audits and inquiries which make recommendations to enhance our business practices.
These reviews generally result in mitigation strategies aimed at addressing the risks identified in the findings.
A range of bodies undertake external reviews of Victoria Police, including:
We may also contribute to other public inquiries including, but not limited to, Royal Commissions and Parliamentary Inquiries.

Risk management

Under Standing Direction 3.7.1 – Risk Management Framework and Processes, Victoria Police must apply the Victorian Government Risk Management Framework 2025 (VGRMF).

We must consider material risks in decision making and appropriately manage risk while considering our obligations, constraints, and objectives. Effective risk management enhances service delivery and community safety outcomes.

The VGRMF describes the minimum risk management requirement to demonstrate that risks are managed effectively. It adopts the ISO 31000:2018 Risk management — Guidelines, an internationally accepted basis for best practice risk management.

Risk management obligations include the requirement that risk considerations are documented and reflected in the organisation’s overall governance, strategic planning, performance management, financial management, and service delivery processes and outcomes.

The Victoria Police Risk Management Framework aligns with the VGRMF and incorporates the Victoria Police Risk Appetite Statement and risk evaluation matrix.

During 2025–26, we completed our annual review of the Risk Management Framework, Strategic Risk Profile and Risk Appetite settings to ensure they remained current and aligned with the organisation's operating environment and risk management obligations.

The Executive Leadership Board recognises risk management as an integral part of organisational culture, policies, systems and processes required to ensure community safety. The Executive Leadership Board is committed to advancing a positive risk culture to enhance understanding by all employees and contractors.

This will support employees to manage risks in all areas of responsibility through sound risk management practices.

Updated 30 October 2026

Victoria Police Annual Report 2025-26: Our organisation

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