ANNUAL REPORT 2008// 2009

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c o n n e c t i n g t h e c o m m u n i t y va lu i n g o ur pe op le

ANNUAL

REPORT

2008//

2009

a _{s a} f e_r v i c t o_r i a contact Details Departments

Chief Commissioner’s Office

Business Information Technology Services Business Management

Corporate Management Review Corporate Strategy and Performance

Counter Terrorism Coordination and Emergency Management

Ethical Standards Human Resource Legal Services

Media and Corporate Communications Operations Coordination

Traffic and Transit Safety Specialist Support

these Departments are located at:

Victoria Police Centre 637 Flinders Street (PO Box 415)

Melbourne Victoria 3005 Telephone 9247 6666

education Department is located at:

Victoria Police Academy View Mount Road

Glen Waverley Victoria 3150 Telephone 9566 9566

crime Department and intelligence and covert support Department are located at:

412 St Kilda Road Melbourne Victoria 3004 Telephone 9865 2111

victoria police forensic science centre is located at: Forensic Drive Macleod Victoria 3085 Telephone 9450 3444 regional headquarters region 1 (central)

Victoria Police Centre 637 Flinders Street Melbourne Victoria 3005 Telephone 9247 5688 region 2 (West) 110 Mercer Street Geelong Victoria 3220 Telephone 5225 3222

region 3 (north West)

15 Dimboola Road

Broadmeadows Victoria 3047 Telephone 9302 8268

region 4 (north east)

247–249 Rosanna Road Rosanna Victoria 3084 Telephone 9457 4444

region 5 (south east)

50 Langhorne Street Dandenong Victoria 3175 Telephone 9769 7621 The locations and contact details for each police station in Victoria are available from the Victoria Police website: www.police.vic.gov.au

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ANNU

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REPORT

2008

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2009

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SCS-COC-001164

Additional information about Victoria Police may be obtained from our website:

www.police.vic.gov.au

The Financial Management Act requires that certain categories of information not contained in the Annual Report be available on request. These include:

– Details of major research and developmental activities

– Statements of details of changes in prices, fees, charges and levies, and – Major committees sponsored. Further information may be obtained by writing to: Chief Commissioner Victoria Police PO Box 415 Melbourne VIC 3005 POL1968_V ETRO D ESIGN

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Victoria Police Annual Report 2008//2009

Foreword from the

Chief Commissioner

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i was appointed as chief commissioner of Victoria Police on 3 March 2009 and what follows is my first annual report to the Parliament and to the Victorian community.

this annual report provides a record of our

achievements in relation to The Way Ahead 2008-2013, the Business Plan 2008-09 and the significant activities and events which affected Victoria Police during the year.

i am pleased to note that the overall crime rate, expressed as a rate per 100,000 people, was reduced by 1.7 per cent during the last 12 months. this marks the sixth consecutive year that the rate has been reduced. However, i acknowledge that we still have a way to go. alcohol fuelled violent crime in particular continues to present challenges to community safety. But we are determined that the work of the Safe Streets taskforce and other related initiatives will bring positive results in this area.

at the end of 2008-09, 302 Victorians had been killed on our roads and another 6,736 had been seriously injured. While these are, in once sense, very good results – both represent substantial decreases over last year’s toll – they are still far too high. in the coming year, Victoria Police will continue to target poor driver behaviour, including excessive speed, alcohol and drug impaired driving and those who use their mobile phones.

importantly for us, the community is telling us that it has confidence in police and is satisfied with the service it receives. at the end of June this year, the independently conducted national Survey of community Satisfaction with Policing indicated that 82 per cent of Victorians ‘had confidence’ in their police. When it came to ‘customer service’, just over 83 per cent of Victorians who had business contact with police in the last 12 months were satisfied with the service they received. these are very positive results and we will be seeking to improve further in the next 12 months.

turning to our own Victoria Police workforce, 2008-09 represented the final year of the initial Protecting our People strategy. over the life of that three-year strategy, Victoria Police has reduced workplace injuries by 29 per cent and reduced days lost to new injuries by 31 per cent. these and other such achievements will form the basis for the next three-year strategy. in commending this annual report to you, i wish to acknowledge the substantial contribution made by the former chief commissioner, christine nixon, both to this year’s results and more particularly to her very significant contribution to Victoria Police over her eight year term as chief commissioner.

Simon Overland

chief commissioner Foreword from the Chief Commissioner

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Section 1

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Victoria Police was established on 3 January 1853, led by the first chief commissioner, William Henry Fancourt Mitchell. then, Victoria Police had a total staff of 875 men, serving a population of around 168,000.

now, Victoria Police chief commissioner Simon overland leads a total staff in excess of 14,000 people, including police members, public servants, protective security officers, forensic scientists and other specialists and serves a Victorian community of around 5.3 million people.

Victoria Police provides services to the community 24 hours a day, seven days a week. our people work from more than 500 locations across the state, including from 339 police stations, ensuring that a safe and secure society underpins the economic, cultural and social wellbeing of Victoria.

We do this by:

– responding to calls for assistance in matters of personal and public safety, emergencies and serious incidents;

– Preventing crime and providing services to support community safety through a range of proactive crime prevention programs;

– Detecting and investigating offences and bringing to justice those responsible for committing them; – Supporting the judicial process to achieve efficient

and effective court case management, providing safe custody for alleged offenders, supporting victims and ensuring fair and equitable treatment of victims and offenders; and

– Promoting safer road user behaviour and enforcing road safety laws.

Fifty-six Police Service areas (PSas) within five regions underpin the delivery of policing services to local communities.

to deliver those services, Victoria Police had a budget of approximamtely $1.7 billion in 2008-09.

Victoria Police operates under the Victorian Police Regulations Act 1958.

the chief commissioner reports directly to the Minister for Police and emergency Services, the Hon. Bob cameron, Mla.

Our Goals

in January 2008, Victoria police launched its new strategic plan, The Way Ahead 2008-2013. that Plan focuses on three key priorities:

A Safer Victoria

crime, public safety and road safety are our focus for delivering a safer Victoria.

Connecting the Community

Police connect people within and across communities. Victoria Police are often the first point of contact for people in need of help, and connect them with others who can provide ongoing assistance.

Valuing our People

Victoria Police values its people and the work they do in providing policing services to the community. the organisation wants its people to be skilled, capable and confident in their roles, professional at leading and influencing change in the community and working effectively within an adaptive and responsive organisation.

By achieving these priorities, Victoria Police will connect the community, through our people, to deliver a safer Victoria.

Our Values

Victoria Police’s organisational Values underpin the culture and behaviour of all personnel within our organisation and help us to become a more effective and capable policing service. our values are:

– Flexibility – remain open-minded at all times, be adaptive to change, while welcoming difference and practicing tolerance.

– Leadership – be approachable, consistent and committed to, and inspire these organisational values.

– Integrity – act with honesty, respecting the right of fair process for all, maintain confidentiality and respect for those we deal with, demonstrate moral strength and courage and behave with honour and impartiality.

– Professionalism – accept responsibility, be accountable to our customers and ourselves. We must communicate honestly, openly and consistently and continually strive for excellence. – Respect – embrace the diversity that exists within

our community, valuing opinions while appreciating and acknowledging the efforts of others.

– Support – recognise and reward the service of our colleagues, and promote professional and career development. at all times, we must care for the wellbeing of our colleagues.

Section 1

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Section 2

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Victoria Police’s corporate governance arrangements are modelled on best practice principles to ensure an effective and transparent approach to accountability, decision making and performance management.

Chief Commissioner

Victoria Police is led by the chief commissioner of Police, Simon overland. the chief commissioner is responsible to the Police and emergency Services Minister, the Hon Bob cameron, Mla for the overall direction and performance of Victoria Police.

Executive Management Group

the executive Management Group provides high level, flexible and timely direction to the organisation. its members are:

chief commissioner Simon overland Deputy commissioner Kieran Walshe Deputy commissioner Ken lay Deputy commissioner Ken Jones acting executive Director cliff owen Director Jenny Peachey

Director nicole McKechnie

chief of Staff, Superintendent rod Wilson the eMG meets at least weekly.

Corporate Committee

the corporate committee has responsibility for setting corporate policy, setting strategic direction, organisational performance targets, corporate budget priorities and for monitoring corporate performance. corporate committee is chaired by the chief commissioner and comprises 25 senior executives and senior managers (please refer to the organisation chart for details of membership).

each member of corporate committee reports directly to the chief commissioner and is accountable for the work performance of their respective portfolio, region, department or work unit.

the corporate committee meets at least seven times each year.

Standing Committees

the corporate committee is supported by six standing committees. these are:

– ethical Health Standing committee;

– Science and technology Standing committee; – organisational Development Standing committee; – Finance and Physical resources Standing

committee;

– Policing operations Standing committee; and – People Management and Development

Standing committee.

each standing committee comprises key corporate committee members and most have at least one external, independent member and has its own terms of reference and charter. the standing committees are responsible for the development and oversight of core strategies and projects in their area of focus.

the standing committees are fully empowered to make decisions, although there is a formal

ratification process through the corporate committee to ensure whole of organisation consideration for policies and projects.

the standing committees meet formally at least once every six weeks.

Strategic Assessment Group

the Strategic assessment Group (SaG) is a sub-committee of the Victoria Police corporate committee. it is comprised of the chairs of the six Standing committees, the Director of the corporate Strategy and Performance Department and the executive Director.

SaG makes recommendations to corporate committee regarding the Victoria Police investment Management Framework (iMF), which encompasses project delivery from investment proposal to closure and realisation of benefits. the iMF also facilitates an enterprise view of organisational projects and programs, which is utilised by SaG to provide advice to corporate committee to enhance the delivery of the Victoria Police portfolio. the Strategic reference Group (SrG), comprised of investment subject matter experts, supports SaG in the evaluation of the strategic alignment of investment proposals with organisational priorities. Section 2

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Executive Management Changes in 2008-09

Mr Dannye Maloney, formerly commander intelligence and covert Support Department was appointed assistant commissioner, crime on 30 September 2008.

Mr tim cartwright, formerly Superintendent region 2, was appointed assistant commissioner region 3 (north West) on 30 September 2008.

Ms christine nixon, who served as chief commissioner of Victoria Police for eight years, resigned from Victoria Police in February 2009. She immediately took up a position as head of the Victorian Bushfire reconstruction and recovery authority.

Mr Simon overland, formerly Deputy commissioner, was appointed chief commissioner in March 2009. Mr Ken lay, formerly assistant commissioner, traffic and transit, was appointed Deputy commissioner – traffic in June 2009.

Sir Ken Jones was appointed Deputy commissioner – crime in June 2009. He will take up his appointment on 1 July 2009.

Audit Committee

the chief commissioner, as the accountable officer under the Financial Management Act 1994, is responsible for the governance and oversight of the financial management of Victoria Police. the chief commissioner is supported in this role by the Victoria Police audit committee (VPac).

VPac provides independent advice and assistance to the accountable officer in regard to the systems of financial reporting, financial and organisational risk management, internal control and the adequacy of management reporting. VPac operates under a charter that is based on the provisions and intent of the Directions of the Minister of Finance.

Members of the audit committee are:

Mr Mark Peters (chair) – independent member Ms Barbara Mc lure – independent member Mr Gary Benbow – independent member Deputy commissioner Kieran Walshe

Deputy commissioner Simon overland (until his appointment as chief commissioner in March 2009) Mr cliff owen, acting executive Director

assistant commissioner luke cornelius assistant commissioner Gary Jamieson Ms Jenny Peachey, Director corporate Strategy and Performance

non-voting members are:

commander terry Purton (Secretariat), corporate Management review Division Mr Mick Whelan, chief Financial officer the audit committee meets bi-monthly. Corporate Governance

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Governance and Organisational Review Initiatives

a number of audits, reviews and evaluations were undertaken by the corporate Management review Division during 2008-09, spanning both regions and departments across the organisation. Key issues relating to corporate governance, financial accountability, and overall compliance were identified. recommendations regarding opportunities for improvement were provided to department heads and overseen by the VPac.

Information Technology Auditing

as a VPac requirement, the information technology (it) auditor undertook forensic audits of user activity on Victoria Police it systems and provided reports regarding irregularities detected and issues affecting compliance generally. the it auditor liaised with areas of Victoria Police responsible for security policies, communications and user audit requirements. the it auditor liaised with the commissioner for law enforcement Data Security (cleDS) to ensure that cleDS protocols and standards are being addressed by Victoria Police.

Financial Auditing

the number of planned financial audits conducted increased over the period with all results being reported to VPac. Major audits completed for the financial year were the General ledger reconciliation Process, the Victorian law enforcement Drug Fund, the Purchasing card Process and the uniform allocation and inventory control Processes. computer assisted auditing using acl data analysis software, is used to identify anomalies and exceptions in the areas of accounts Payable (aP) and Hr Payroll. Symsure Monitor, the exceptions management software, was fully implemented in november 2008 to manage findings that arose from quarterly aP and Hr Payroll exceptions reports.

Following a request from the Financial and Physical resources Standing committee in June 2009, a report was prepared and presented to that committee on key financial risks faced by Victoria Police. the unit also facilitated regular liaison meetings with the Victorian auditor General’s office.

Business Continuity Management

the February 2009 bushfires tested Business continuity for Victoria Police, particularly in relation to the provision of personnel over an extended period. this issue was identified in the Force-wide bushfire de-brief. the Business continuity Planning Manager is now engaged in an education program illustrating that business continuity needs to have a greater focus on human resources, in addition to infrastructure and service loss. the lessons learned from this experience will inform management when planning for a pandemic incident where high levels of staff absenteeism can be expected.

Risk Management

Victoria Police continues to fulfil its legal obligations under the Victoria Managed Insurance Authority Act 1996 and the Financial Management Act 1994 in relation to risk management.

a training program was implemented for regional and Departmental risk managers to provide information and guidance in risk identification and management. liaison with other australian law enforcement agencies as well as Victorian Government

instrumentalities is ongoing to ensure best practice is maintained to provide a robust risk management process across the organisation.

Attestation

i, chief commissioner, certify that Victoria Police has risk management processes in place consistent with the australian/new Zealand risk Management Standard and an internal control system is in place that enables the executive to understand, manage and satisfactorily control risk exposures. the Victoria Police audit committee verifies this assurance and that the risk profile of Victoria Police has been critically reviewed within the last 12 months.

Simon Overland

chief commissioner Section 2

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Business Information Technology Service Board of Management applications Management Business Services and Support customer Service

ict Project Management ict Services and infrastructure technical Standards and architecture

Business Management Board of Management Business Solutions unit corporate Support Services Financial Services Division

Procurement Management Division records Services Division

Corporate Management Review Commander

Terry Purton

Business Solutions unit corporate Support Services Financial Services Division

Procurement Management Division records Services Division

Corporate Strategy and Performance Director

Jenny Peachey

Performance and Business intelligence

Strategy and Policy corporate Governance

Counter Terrorism Coordination and Emergency Management Assistant Commissioner Stephen Fontana

Business Services unit

counter terrorism coordination unit critical infrastructure Protection unit licensing Services

Major event Planning unit State emergency response coordination unit taskforce razon Crime Assistant Commissioner Dannye Moloney crime operations crime Strategy Group crime theme Desks operations Support Specialist resources tasking and coordination Deputy Commissioner – Crime

Ken Jones (commences 1/7/2009) Deputy Commissioner – Public Safety Kieran Walshe

Deputy Commissioner – Traffic Ken Lay

road Safety Strategic Services Division transit Safety Division

traffic Support Division traffic camera office Acting Executive Director Cliff Owen

Corporate Governance

Organisational Chart as at 30 June 2009

all corporate committee members listed below report directly to the chief commissioner

Chief

Commissioner

Simon Overland

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Section 2 Corporate Governance Education Assistant Commissioner Kevin Scott Director Toni Campbell

arlie leadership Development centre

Professional learning and Development

School of applied Policing education corporate Services Ethical Standards

Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius

conduct and Professional Standards Division

Financial investigations unit investigations Group ombudsman and oPi liaison Police integrity initiatives risk Mitigation Division Specialist operations and intelligence Division Forensic Services Acting Director John Scheffer

Biology Division

Business and Strategic Services Division

chemistry Division crime Scene Division Human Resourses Board of Management Health and Safety Hr combined Services organisational Wellbeing Police Medical officer Workforce Sustainability

Workforce Planning and Placement Workplace relations

Intelligence & Covert Support Acting Commander

Rod Jouning

covert Support Division State intelligence Division Legal Services

Director Findlay McRae

civil litigation

Freedom of information & Privacy legal advisors office

Prosecutions

Media and Corporate Communications Director

Nicole McKechnie

corporate communications Division Media Division

Operations Coordination Commander

Ashley Dickinson

community and Diversity Division custodial Medicine

Policy, research, intelligence and training unit

Region 1 (Central) Assistant Commissioner Gary Jamieson

Police Service areas: Bayside Glen eira Kingston Melbourne Port Phillip Stonnington Yarra Region 2 (West) Assistant Commissioner Sandra Nicholson

Police Service areas: Ballarat Brimbank central Goldfields corangamite Greater Geelong Hobsons Bay Horsham Maribyrnong Melton Moorabool northern Grampians Southern Grampians Surf coast Warrnambool Wyndham

Region 3 (North West) Assistant Commissioner Tim Cartwright

Police Service areas: Bendigo campaspe Darebin Hume Macedon ranges Mildura Moonee Valley Moreland Greater Shepparton Swan Hill Whittlesea

Region 4 (North East) Acting Assistant Commissioner Lucinda Nolan

Police Service areas: Banyule Benalla Boroondara Knox Manningham Maroondah Mitchell Monash nilumbik Wangaratta Whitehorse Wodonga Yarra ranges

Region 5 (South East) Assistant Commissioner Paul Evans

Police Service areas: Bass coast Baw Baw cardinia casey Greater Dandenong east Gippsland Frankston la trobe Mornington Peninsula Wellington Specialist Support Commander Jim Hart

emergency response Division communications and internal Security Division the Protective Security Division training Wing

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Section 3

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My Place – Making Performance Data Accessible to the Community.

My Place is a new online application featured on the Victoria Police News website. By simply typing in their postcode, Victorians are able to view their local crime statistics, read a personalised message from their local police inspector and view targeted crime prevention information. each of Victoria Police's 56 PSas has a My Place page, which is updated quarterly. the application aims to promote a mutual

responsibility between police and the community in creating safer neighbourhoods. By providing people with the knowledge about what crime is taking place in their area, it empowers them to work to prevent it. My Place is not just about putting police data and statistics online. it's about displaying information in a format that's easy to read and understand as well as providing people with the knowledge to live safer lives.

State Wide Performance Results

Victoria Police has an integrated planning and reporting framework which enables us to maintain focus on achieving our strategic priorities. The Way Ahead 2008-2013 sets the strategic goals and priorities for the five year period and is focussed around three key priorities:

– a Safer Victoria;

– connecting the community; and – Valuing our People.

the Victoria Police Business Plan 2008-09 underpinned the priorities identified in The Way Ahead and reflected the organisation’s commitments to government for the 12 month period, in terms of what would be delivered, how it would be delivered and the cost of delivery.

this section provides a report against the objectives and targets from The Way Ahead for the first 12 months of its five year life. it provides a report against the performance measures in the annual Business Plan. it also provides additional data and information relating to Victoria Police crime statistics, as well as the contextual information which aids the interpretation of the numbers.

Key Results: The Way Ahead 2008 – 2013.

A Safer Victoria

crime, public safety and road safety are our focus for delivering a safer Victoria. over the life of The Way Ahead, Victoria Police has committed to:

– reducing crime by 12 per cent; and

– reducing deaths and serious injuries on our roads in accordance with arrive alive! 2008 – 2017. 1. Reducing Crime

at the end of 2008-09, the total crime rate was 7,088 offences per 100,000 population. this represents a decrease of 1.7 per cent over the rate of 7,209 at 30 June 2008.

this reduction in the crime rate is largely attributable to decreases1_{in some traditional volume crimes:} Burglaries (down 7.2%); theft of Motor Vehicles (down 13.0%); theft from Motor Vehicles (down 11.0%); and theft of Bicycle (down 24.1%).

Successful policing initiatives have seen increases in the rate of statute offences recorded, including: Handle Stolen Goods (up 3.5%); Going equipped to Steal (up 10.8%); Drug offences (up 2.0%); and Behaviour in Public offences (up 88.4%).

the code of Practice for the investigation of Family Violence continues to support victims of family violence with increases in the reported crime rate for Family Violence related assaults (up 5.2%) and Family Violence Property Damage (up 3.0%).

other categories of crime contributing to increases in total reported crime were: assaults (up 5.4%), which includes Street assaults (up 2.2%) and Family Violence assaults (up 5.2%); Property crimes of arson (up 6.3%); Shopsteal (up 20.5%); other theft (up 2.4%); and aggravated Burglary (up 8.1%).

the table below provides detailed comparison of results in all crime categories (comparing results in 2007-08 with those for 2008-09). in line with a recommendation from the Parliamentary Public accounts and estimates committee, those results are shown as both the number of offences and as a rate per 100,000 population.

Section 3 Our Performance

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Our Performance

Table 1. Total Crime Statistics

Number of Offences Rate per 100,000 population

Crimes Against the Person 2007-08 2008-09 Variance (%) 2007-08 2008-09 Variance (%)

Homicide 166 181 9.0 3.2 3.4 7.0

rape 1614 1543 -4.4 30.7 28.8 -6.2

Sex (non-rape) 6425 4908 -23.6 122.1 91.5 -25.1

robbery 3325 3332 0.2 63.2 62.1 -1.7

assault 31347 33668 7.4 595.7 627.6 5.4

Family Violence- 23.6% of assaults 7413 7949 7.2 140.9 148.2 5.2

Street related- 28.7% of assaults 9230 9646 4.5 175.9 179.8 2.2

abduction / Kidnap 337 339 0.6 6.4 6.3 -1.3

Crimes Against Property 2007-08 2008-09 Variance (%) 2007-08 2008-09 Variance (%)

arson 3195 3462 8.4 60.7 64.5 6.3 Property Damage (PD) 52968 54122 2.2 1006.5 1008.8 0.2 Family Violence (4.5% of PD) 2297 2418 5.3 43.8 45.1 3.0 Graffiti (14% of PD) 6428 7568 17.7 122.5 141.1 15.2 Burglary (aggravated) 1733 1909 10.2 32.9 35.6 8.1 Burglary (residential) 28830 28030 -2.8 547.8 522.5 -4.6 Burglary (other) 19327 17206 -11.0 367.3 320.7 -12.7 Deception 23559 22224 -5.7 447.7 414.3 -7.5

Handle Stolen Goods 6699 7070 5.5 127.3 131.8 3.5

theft from Motor Vehicle 52206 47366 -9.3 992.1 882.9 -11.0

theft (Shopsteal) 15840 19455 22.8 301.0 362.6 20.5

theft of Motor Vehicle 17997 15962 -11.3 342.0 297.5 -13.0

theft of Bicycle 5854 4532 -22.6 111.2 84.5 -24.1

theft (other) 54455 56856 4.4 1034.8 1059.8 2.4

Other 2007-08 2008-09 Variance (%) 2007-08 2008-09 Variance (%)

Drugs 14307 14876 4.0 271.9 277.3 2.0

Going equipped to Steal 470 531 13.0 8.9 9.9 10.8

Behaviour in Public 3332 6399 92.0 63.3 119.3 88.4

2007-08 2008-09 Variance (%) 2007-08 2008-09 Variance (%)

Total Crime 379362 380249 0.2 7208.9 7087.9 -1.7

Note

For consistency, all data above has been prepared on the same basis and download date as the Victoria Police Provisional crime Statistics for 2008-09.

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the table below provides specific information on the five year trend in recorded offences for key crime categories.

Table 2. Five Year Trends in Key Crime Categories

2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 % Change

2004-05 to 2008-09

Crimes Against the Person 38584 40421 42138 42947 43971 +14.0

assault 28111 28943 31020 31284 33668 +19.8

Crimes Against Property 280314 277940 281123 281134 278194 -0.8

theft of Motor Vehicle 21279 19578 17986 18008 15962 -25.0

theft from Motor Vehicle 45263 47074 46497 52178 47366 +4.6

Burglary (residential) 32781 29290 29555 28817 28030 -14.5

Property Damage 41163 46857 52482 52972 54122 +31.5

Note

Prior years (2004-05/2007-08) has been reported in previous Victoria Police annual reports. Data for 2008-09 is from Victoria Police Provisional crime Statistics for 2008-09.

the incidence of violence in public places is addressed elsewhere in this report.

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Family Violence

responding to family violence and violence against women and children is a key priority for Victoria Police and is one of the areas where increases in crime statistics are considered a positive. increased reporting signifies that community members have the confidence to report family violence to police. the data in the table below shows that Victoria Police attended 33,918 incidents of family violence in 2008-09. there has been an increase of 16.3 per cent in incidents reported to police since 2004-05.

of all assaults reported to Victoria Police in 2008-09, 23.6 per cent (7,949) were family violence related. of family violence incidents (FVi) reported in 2008-09, 47.8 per cent of offences recorded were assaults. of all Property Damage offences reported to police, 4.5 per cent were family violence related and 14.5 per cent of offences recorded at FVi were Property Damage related.

in 2008-09, a total of 77.4 per cent (24,544) of the victims of family violence were females.

the code of Practice for the investigation of Family Violence (the code of Practice) was introduced in august 2004. the code of Practice is one of a number of initiatives which was designed to enhance police responses to family violence. the code of Practice focuses on evidence gathering, investigation and laying charges where appropriate and has led to significant improvement in the way in which Victoria Police responds to family violence. in 2009-10 Victoria Police will be re-writing the code of Practice to continue to build on enhancing responses by police to victims of family violence and their children. on 8 December 2008, Family Violence Safety notices (FVSn) were introduced as part of the new Family Violence Protection Act 2008 legislation. the FVSn is an additional tool for police to use when responding to family violence incidents and enables police members to respond more effectively to those incidents. the FVSn is available for members to use after-hours, on weekends and public holidays and is similar to an interim intervention order. it provides immediate protection for victims and their children and acts as an application to the Magistrates’ court of Victoria for a family violence intervention order. During 2008-09, training on the new Act and family violence more broadly was provided to over 5,400 police members. there were 1,723 FVSns issued during the period 8 December 2008 to 30 June 2009.

Our Performance

Table 3. Family Violence Statistics

Family Violence Incidents 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 % Change

2004-05 to 2008-09

FVi attended 29158 28301 29652 31676 33918 +16.3

no. of FVi where charges laid as a result of police attendance

5185 7088 7444 7612 8346 +61.0

Percentage of FVi where charges laid

17.8% 25.0% 25.1% 24.0% 24.6% +6.8

Note

Prior years (2004-05/2007-08) has been reported in previous Victoria Police annual reports. Data for 2008-09 is from Victoria Police Provisional crime Statistics for 2008-09.

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2. Reducing deaths and serious injuries on our roads During 2008-09, Victoria Police committed to working with its road safety partners to reduce collisions on our roads, particularly those that result in death or serious injury. in accordance with government’s road safety strategy arrive alive! 2008-2017 and its action Plan for 2008-10, Victoria Police focused on tactical road traffic law enforcement operations; on improving communications with road users regarding road safety; and by conducting and supporting research into the development of a traffic enforcement model for Victoria.

For the financial year 2008-09, road Deaths have been reduced by 9.3 per cent and Serious injuries by 13.3 per cent in comparison with the same time in the previous year.

Table 4. Road Safety Statistics

Fatalities 2007-08 2008-09 % change 330 302 -9.3 Serious Injuries 2007-08 2008-09 % change 7,771 6,736 -13.3 Note

Data above correct at date of download – 30 June 2009. Data download on different dates may reflect minor variations from that reported above.

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Connecting the Community

Police are often the first point of contact for people when they need help. When we can, we help straight away and through our partnerships we are able to connect people with community and government organisations who can provide ongoing assistance. Victoria Police recognises that the community are at the centre of policing and we have a responsibility to uphold the rights of every individual. through the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 we will contribute to creating a more just and cohesive community which protects the rights of all Victorians.

over the life of The Way Ahead, Victoria Police has committed to:

– improving community confidence in Victoria Police; and

– increasing satisfaction with the delivery of policing services.

1. Improving Community Confidence

We undertook to do this by increasing community engagement to improve safety and confidence and by enhancing organisational capacity for policing diverse communities, including youth, multicultural and marginalised groups.

For the financial year 2008-09, confidence in Police2 declined slightly (by 0.4 per cent) from 82.4 per cent at 30 June 2008 to 82.0 per cent at June 2009. Despite that decline, confidence levels for Victoria Police are still slightly above the national average of 81.8 per cent.

Victoria Police is involved in a Whole of Government community engagement network which is working towards a common framework for engagement across Victorian Government Departments. this framework will include:

– a Principles and Framework document; – a learning and development Plan; and – a communications framework.

2. Increasing Satisfaction with Police Services We undertook to do this by continuing to develop a service strategy which will determine the standard for future service delivery throughout the organisation and the establishment of an enhanced measurement regime to record and monitor the organisations compliance with the Victims charter.

For the financial year 2008-09, 61.93_{per cent of} respondents to the community Survey reported a recent (in the last 12 months) contact with police. of these respondents, 83.3 per cent reported they were satisfied with the service they received during their most recent contact with Police. this represents an increase of 0.3 per cent from 83.0 per cent at the end of 2007-08 and remains significantly above the national average of 80.9 per cent.

Victoria Police continues to develop a service delivery strategy, building on the Service Delivery Principles (which are detailed in Section 2 of this report). We have also sought to improve identified customer service gaps in both telephone and counter service.

regular audits are undertaken to determine recorded compliance with the Victims’ charter act on Victim notifications to a work unit. compliance levels are also reviewed as part of the compstat4_process. During 2008-09, recorded compliance rates have increased from under 60 per cent to approximately 75 per cent.

Our Performance

Notes:

2_{Measured by the independently conducted national Survey of}

community Satisfaction with Policing, reporting the proportion of respondents who Strongly agreed/agreed that they “had confidence in Police.”

3_{Measured by the independently conducted national Survey of}

community Satisfaction with Policing, reporting the proportion of respondents who had business contact with Victoria police in the previous 12 months and were Very Satisfied/Satisfied with the service they received from police during that contact.

4_{corporate Performance reviews are conducted regularly on}

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Valuing our People

our people are the public face of policing. More than 14,000 people work for Victoria police, dealing with complex issues, contributing to positive social

outcomes. each year police deal with millions of people in a wide range of challenging situations. Police members are supported in their roles by public service professionals who work as administrators, managers and specialists in a range of functions such as law, accounting and forensic sciences.

it is important that our people are supported to perform their roles in terms of their health, safety and wellbeing and through the provision of appropriate facilities and equipment. We also continue to ensure that our people are supported by building leadership capability across all levels and creating opportunities for the professional development of our staff.

over the life of The Way Ahead, we will work towards ensuring that:

– the health, safety and wellbeing of our people are improved;

– our managers are committed to providing ethical, values based leadership and improving organisation performance; and

– our people know that their skills and experience are valued.

1. Improving the health, safety and wellbeing of our people

During the financial year 2008-09: – there were 0 workplace fatalities;

– the was a 3 per cent decrease in workplace injuries; – there was a 4 per cent increase in days lost to

injury; and

– there was a 3.4 per cent decrease in the Well-being Survey score from 2006 to 20085_.

2. Promoting ethical, values based leadership in May 2009, the airlie leadership Development centre released the Victoria Police Leadership Excellence Framework which includes:

– Strategic alignment with organisational objectives; – Succession Planning;

– Building leadership capability;

– effective people development strategies; and – transition Support.

one of the key recommendations of the integrity System for Police Project (a Victoria Police – australian research council linkage Grant) which was completed in 2008-09 will be implemented in 2009-10 with the introduction of ethics and values training to the new recruit course.

From July 2009, all new recruits will participate in ethics and values training as part of a two week induction course prior to commencement of the main training program.

eventually, ethics values training will be rolled out to all ranks and classifications within Victoria Police to further reinforce and embed ethical decision making in all aspects of policing.

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3. Ensuring our people know their skills and experience are valued

Increasing organisational flexibility: through implementation of the Victoria Police Workplace agreement 2007 changes have been made to provide a more flexible work force:

– changes to part time employment to offer; – irregular part time

– Patterned part time

– ownership of more than one position – review of applications for part time – Managers can advertise fixed hours – cashing out of accrued time off; and – Supplementary duties for those on leave

without pay.

Building skills and capabilities: on 4 august 2008 the Victoria Police Professional Development assessment (PDa) system was introduced.

the aim of the PDa is to:

– Develop a culture focussed on professional development;

– identify opportunities for development and build capability;

– ensure individual performance is aligned with action plans;

– Develop role clarity, responsibilities and accountability;

– Facilitate feedback between assessors and employees; and

– recognise the efforts of our people.

Key Results: Business Plan 2008-09

Victoria Police delivers a range of services to the community on a daily basis. these services include: – responding to calls for assistance in matters of

personal and public safety, including emergencies, serious incidents and routine response calls; – Detecting and investigating offences and bringing

to justice those responsible for committing them; – Supporting the judicial process to achieve efficient

and effective court case management;

– Providing community safety and crime prevention programs such as the authorised release of criminal history information in the interests of public safety; and

– Promoting safer road user behaviour and enforcing road safety laws.

in 2008-09, Victoria Police measured the quantity, quality and timeliness of its delivery of policing services through 12 key performance indicators. a summary of those indicators and results for 2008-09 appears in table 5.

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Table 5: Output results reported to government at 30 June 2009.

Measure Performance Target 2008-09 Result Performance Variation (%) Quantity

reduction in property crime 2% -1.6% -0.4

reduction in crimes against the person 2% +1.8% +3.8

number of events responded to (metro area and from regional police communication centres)

760,000 778,787 +2.5

number of crime prevention and community safety checks conducted

480,000 425,895 -11.3

Quality

Proportion of community satisfied with policing services (general satisfaction)6

72% 67.2% -4.8

Proportion of the community who have confidence in police7

82% 82.0% 0.0

Proportion of drivers tested who comply with alcohol limits 99% 99.6% +0.6

Proportion of drivers who comply with posted speed limits 99% 99.6% +0.6

Proportion of drivers tested who return clear result for prohibited drugs

97% 99.0% +2.0

Proportion of successful prosecution outcomes 92% 93.1% +1.1

Timeliness

Proportion of crimes against the person resolved within 30 days

56% 53.2% -2.8

Proportion of property crimes resolved within 30 days 20% 21.5% +1.5

Notes:

6_{Measured by the independently conducted national Survey of community Satisfaction with}

Policing, representing that proportion of respondents who were Very Satisfied/Satisfied “in general with policing services”.

7_{Measured by the independently conducted national Survey of community Satisfaction with}

Policing representing the proportion of respondents who Strongly agreed/agreed that they “had confidence in Police”.

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Factors significantly affecting output performance

the 2008-09 results against output performance indicators have generally been good and within the forecast range (which is + / - 5 per cent). this section provides comment on those results which fall outside that forecast range or where performance variation might otherwise be regarded as significant.

Reduction in crimes against the person: For the financial year 2008-09, reported crimes against the person have increased by 1.8 per cent. this increase is largely attributable to a 7.4 per cent increase in the incidence of assault offences. Detailed explanation of variances attributable to Family Violence can be found earlier in this section. During the year, Victoria Police strategies and programs, such as Safe Streets taskforce have strengthened the enforcement effort directed at reducing alcohol fuelled violence in public places. Crime Prevention and Community Safety Checks Conducted:the minus 11.3 per cent variation from the estimated number of crime Prevention and community Safety checks reflects changes in the way police checks are now undertaken.

– approximately 40 per cent of some non-technical police record processing work that does not attract any revenue has been transferred to crimtrac. – Victoria Police now only conducts approximately

half of the Working With children checks. the rest are conducted by crimtrac accredited

organisations; Department of Justice Working with children check unit (37%), Victorian institute of teaching (5%) and

the remaining eight per cent by other government departments, private sector organisations. – the introduction of the new federal aged-care

legislation where all employees and volunteers in the aged-care sector had to be police record checked saw significant increases in the number of police checks during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 financial years. as aged care providers are only required to be re-checked every three years, 2008-09 saw reduced demand for checks to be conducted.

Proportion of community satisfied with policing services (general satisfaction): Since June 2008, General Satisfaction has declined by 2.5 per cent (from 69.7% to 67.2%). there has been a similar decrease in the national average result for this measure over the same period. the drivers for the decrease are not entirely clear at this time, but they do not seem to be limited to Victoria. However, it should be noted that there has been no similar decline in levels of satisfaction with service provided among those members of the community who have had direct business contact with Victoria Police in the last 12 months (customer satisfaction). at 30 June 2009, customer satisfaction with policing services was at 83.3 per cent.

(see page 18 above). Our Performance

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Output Costs and Resource Allocation

in 2008-09 Victoria Police expended $1,731 million on the delivery of the Policing Services output. this represented a 6.19 per cent increase over the 2007-08 total of $1,630 million.

the table below provides a summary of comparative financial results over a five year period.

Table 6. Summary Financial Results

2005 $’000 2006 $’000 2007 $’000 2008 $’000 2009 $’000 Total income 1,352,112 1,523,873 1,583,522 1,676,603 1,784,140

less total expenses 1,349,221 1,517,254 1,556,428 1,620,837 1,731,520

net result from operating activities 2,891 6,619 27,094 45,766 52,620

net cash flow from operating activities

70,726 94,383 43,932 54,694 54,398

Total assets 835,234 984,002 1,719,746 1,190,259 1,298,833

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Section 4

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Victoria Police is committed to supporting and protecting our people to perform their roles, in terms of their health, safety and wellbeing, by building skills and leadership capability across all levels and by creating opportunities for the personal and professional development of staff.

We realise to attract and retain a highly skilled workforce we need to increase organisational flexibility through workplace arrangements that attract new and diverse people to the organisation and support the retention of existing staff.

So that we continually improve our organisational leadership, professional capability and performance our human resource programs and policies are focussed on ensuring our people are safe and healthy, adaptive, responsive, confident and professional so as to deliver excellence in policing services to our diverse community.

Recruitment, Retention and Deployment Workforce Planning

the People allocation Model (PaM) is a distributive model which allocates the available police resources in an equitable manner, using 12 social and demographic issues identified as the key drivers of policing. in January 2009, the PaM was updated with additional data relating to those 12 drivers.

our reporting on human resource (Hr) drivers has been enhanced to further assist managers. the data highlights information and trends that can affect a work location’s capacity to deliver services and provides opportunities for comparison and knowledge sharing. these Hr drivers were also utilised as key source data for the Victoria Police compstat1_process and to monitor our achievements against The Way Ahead 2008-2013 on a regular basis.

Police Numbers

implementation of the government’s commitment to increase police numbers by 350 during the term of office is proceeding. recruitment, training and induction scheduling is on track to increase police numbers to 11,250 by June 2010.

Victoria Police has received continued interest from people wanting to join the organisation and a high rate of recruit applicants has been sustained. the quality of recruits remains high, with people from a range of professions seeking to join. Selection is based on merit and during 2008-09, 428 recruits (67 per cent male and 33 per cent female) entered the Victoria Police academy to commence training in the Probationary constable course. the average age for recruits was 30 years, which has remained relatively consistent over the past four years.

Victoria Police continued to support the australian Federal Police with overseas deployment of up to 63 members performing capacity building and peace-keeping duties in the Solomon islands and east timor during 2008-09. in addition to overseas deployments, Victoria Police deployed up to 54 police to the airport Policing Program.

Section 4 Our People

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Diversity

the first Victoria Police Diversity Strategy concluded during the reporting period. its key outcomes were benchmarking of organisational diversity through research and data analysis, and developing infrastructure and systems to support diversity capability. the integration of diversity competencies into a range of employment processes saw

improvements made to police applicant fitness testing and the incorporation of Human rights principles into police recruit training. Scoping has commenced for the 2009-2012 Diversity Strategy.

other activities have included the development of specific strategies to increase employment from under-represented groups, such as:

– identifying activities aimed at reducing barriers in employment for people with disabilities. these will be incorporated into the Victoria Police Disability action Plan.

– Working with the adult Multicultural education Service to deliver a police preparatory course for people from non-english speaking backgrounds. – contributing to the development of Karreeta

Yirramboi, the Victorian aboriginal Public Sector employment and career Development action Plan. – rolling-out innovative, flexible work options to

assist employees manage work-life balance, particularly women, older workers, and those with parental or carer responsibilities.

the number of female police and recruits as at 30 June 2009 was 2,697, providing a representation of 23.5 per cent. this is a 0.4 percentage point increase and an increase of 49 female police and recruits on the previous reporting year. With the inclusion of female public servants, female representation at 30 June 2009 was 32 per cent (or 4618), an overall increase of 0.7 per cent (or 166) on the previous year.

an australian research council (arc) three year (2006-2009) grant in partnership with rMit university completed its final year study into the attraction and retention of people from culturally and linguistically Diverse (calD) backgrounds. the study has drawn on surveys, interviews and focus groups with police employees and calD community members to develop broad policy recommendations. the research findings will provide an evidence based focus for future recruiting initiatives including marketing, workplace support structures and community engagement activities.

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Workforce Flexibility and Capacity Enterprise Bargaining

Victoria Police has two sets of industrial arrangements in place that cover sworn police members and

public servants.

the current workplace agreement for police members came into effect in october 2007 and will remain in operation until June 2011. the agreement introduced and/or improved a number of initiatives for key areas that have been implemented during the last financial year:

– enhanced flexible working options;

– improved career structure that rewards members for performance and improves feedback for police members; and

– improved redeployment assistance for ill and injured members.

these arrangements are designed to provide opportunities to improve workforce capability and capacity and provide police members with the ability to better manage work-life balance.

the 2006 workplace agreement for public servants was renegotiated by government and the cPSu and was varied and extended to June 2011. it provides for wage increases in line with government policy, more flexible access to long service leave, clarification of leave provisions and adjustment of carer’s and compassionate leave in line with the national employment Standards.

Flexible Work Arrangements

Benefits from the flexibility initiatives in the Victoria Police Workplace Agreement 2007 started to be realised during the year. the 2008-09 cashing out accrued time off program resulted in 3,100 additional police shifts used for high visibility operations targeting crime, traffic, public order and licensing offences across the state. the 2009-10 program has recently commenced with 2,810 additional shifts which will again be focused on high visibility operations targeting specific policing issues.

irregular part time employment and supplementary duties were launched in June 2009. these initiatives allow sworn part time employees and sworn employees on leave without pay to work additional shifts. these resources will be used for targeted operations and to backfill local areas. Since the launch, there has been considerable interest in irregular part time employment and resources will be able to be utilised over the coming year.

the final flexibility initiative from the agreement is fixed term employment. this will allow Victoria Police to employ sworn police on a fixed term contract. this initiative forms part of the current changes required to the Police Regulation Act.

Work on implementing the outcomes of the rostering Project has resulted in the roster evaluation and assistance unit in the Human resource Department delivering an extensive roster training program to improve our roster managers’ knowledge in contemporary roster practices. this two day interactive program, delivered by trained

organisational facilitators, was supported by a DVD. a significant number of our operational sergeants and senior sergeants across all regions attended these sessions. the focus was on a safe workplace to eliminate risks to health, safety and wellbeing, workforce adaptability and responsiveness to current and future policing demands; and a workplace culture where managers and staff work together to establish best practice rostering. the training is supported locally by local roster Working Groups.

System Enhancements

Following the Victorian auditor-General’s 2006 report, work has been undertaken in developing a more robust human resource management system (HrMS). in 2008 Victoria Police released a tender to replace the existing HrMS system, SaP was the preferred tenderer to replace the system. Victoria Police and SaP are currently in the process of implementing this system, with implementation due in the last quarter of 2009. Section 4

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Organisational Health, Safety and Wellbeing

the first three year phase of our Protecting Our People health and safety strategy has been completed. Substantial improvement in performance has been achieved. this strategy has driven a planned, systematic approach to health, safety and wellbeing in everything we do. comprehensive review and consultation has been carried out to learn from the first phase of the strategy and inform the development of the next three year plan.

over the last three years, Victoria Police has reduced injuries by 29 per cent, reduced days lost to new injuries by 31 per cent, demonstrated an improvement in wellbeing and safety system audit scores across the organisation and reduced the Workcover premium by $6.5 million.

the following key initiatives proved effective in contributing to this improved performance:

– the integration of clear health, safety and wellbeing targets within the organisations compstat

accountability process and other business reports. – the health, safety and wellbeing management

system for the organisation has been revised and relaunched with simple procedures and guidance sessions conducted. this provides the foundation for continuous improvement.

– a risk reduction network was established to explore and reduce the risks of injury associated with manual handling.

– the improved incident reporting and investigation process is being used more effectively to manage risk, to improve our understanding of the causes of health and safety incidents and to develop prevention strategies.

– a funding project has progressed with all regions developing their own health, safety and wellbeing strategies to progress the goals of Protecting our People. the 2008-09 year proved successful with projects including stress prevention implementation programs, learning and development initiatives, a coaching program for key managers and the development of a solutions knowledge bank to share ideas and effective solutions.

– the oHS committee development program continues as a focus with their effectiveness undergoing regular review.

– Forums run by the Safety leadership Steering Group provided an opportunity for managers to explore and share ideas to minimise the impact of work pressure on our teams/employees. Follow up on these solutions will continue next year.

– to promote health, safety and wellbeing awareness across the organisation a safety calendar was produced involving our employees and featuring Victoria Police health and safety issues. the calendar was well received and communicates key safety messages.

– the alcohol and other drugs program remains a focus with established counselling services and the implementation and operation of workplace alcohol and other drugs testing services, which commenced in august 2008.

– improved processes were established between injury management personnel, line managers within the organisation and our Workcover agent to achieve early return to work of our injured members. this resulted in a marked improvement in all of Victoria Police’s claim management rates.

– a project to work with our longer term ill and injured employees to inform and assist them with options both within and external to the organisation has resulted in a significant number of long term, complex cases being resolved.

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Section 4 Our People

OH&S Governance Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 2008-09

2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

FTE 13695 13815 13,986

1. Incidents and hazards

number of incidents 3176 3231 3774

rate of incidents 23.5 23.6 27.0

2. Standardised claims

number of standard claims 852 719 715

rate of standard claims per 100 Fte's 6.3 5.3 5.1

3. Lost time standard claims

number of lost time claims 272 260 272

rate of lost time claims per 100 Fte's 2.0 1.9 1.9

4. No. of claims exceeding 13 wks 90 77 91

5. Compensated fatalities 1 0 0

6. Average cost per claims $5,267 $5,958 $6,035

7. Return to work

% of claims that have return to work plans

90% 92% n/a

8. Management Commitment

– evidence of oHS Policy statement; oHS objectives; regular reporting to Senior Management of oHS and oHS plans (signed by ceo or equivalent)

a comprehensive Safety Management System has been developed and launched following extensive consultation across the organisation. the system, called Safe-t-Works, comprises a statement of management commitment, Health Safety and Wellbeing Policy and a comprehensive suite of supporting procedures, forms and tools. Safe-t-Works has been broadly distributed to all workplaces in both hard copy and via the intranet and has been rolled out in conjunction with a specially tailored training program.

Valuing our People, supported by a specific People Plan is incorporated as a

key component of our five year strategic plan, The Way Ahead 2008 – 2013.

the Protecting our People Strategy is a planned approach to build a safety

culture, through seven key enablers, where ‘protecting our people’ is at the forefront of everything we do.

Health and Safety activities are integrated into regional and Departmental Business Plans.

Monthly Health and Safety reporting and data analysis to identify trends and priorities continues.

a Safety accountability framework outlines the roles and responsibilities of our people at all levels and includes KPis for performance management.

9.Management Commitment

– evidence of oHS criteria in purchasing guidelines (including goods, services and personnel)

Safe-t-Works Management System includes specific procedures for Purchasing, contractor Management and Workplace Design. each of these highlights the need for oHS specifications to be considered as part of the procurement process for goods or services to be used by or for Victoria Police personnel.

examples of procurement processes involving oHS consideration in specification development include, but are not limited to; firearms, ballistic vests, equipment belts, selection of contractors, and determination of preferred contractors lists.

oHS requirements are integrated in purchasing documentation including Procurement Process reports and certificates of exemption.

10.Consultation

– evidence of agreed structure of Departmental Working Groups (DWG), Health and Safety representatives (HSr) and issue resolution procedures

DWG operate according to the agreed structure. evidence of continuous improvement exists in the regular review and refinement of the DWG structure and regular nomination/election of HSr for these.

issue resolution Process, agreed with the Police association (tPa), in place and embedded in Safe-t-Works, available in hard copy and on intranet. numerous HSr elections have taken place with updates to the intranet listing to build consultation opportunities.

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Our People

10. Consultation (continued)

– compliance with agreed structure DWG, HSrs and irP

in addition to the regular consultation at the local level, further consultation has been undertaken with unions, HSrs and regional/ Departmental representatives on many specific projects. these include the Safe-t-Works Safety Management System, Personal Protective equipment review, incident reporting processes, HSW training Strategy, HSW service delivery arrangements.

11. Risk Management – % of internal audits/inspections conducted

Safe-t-Works Safety Management System and audit tool developed and implemented.

all audits scheduled in 2008-09 were completed, with comprehensive findings presented to management, along with advice and support to develop action plans aimed at improving compliance levels.

Monthly Hazard inspections continue and are being enhanced through a review of their content, frequency and participation levels.

a Self assessment tool is being developed to complement the regular workplace hazard inspections and formal systems audit processes already in place.

12. Risk Management – % of issues identified and actioned

– internal audits – HSr PinS (access) – WorkSafe notices (access) – oHS committee

recommendations (cons) – oHS Projects (cons)

Victoria Police risk register items on Health, Safety and Wellbeing identified and addressed. Mitigating strategies developed for 100% of risks identified on the register.

13. Percentage of Staff and Managers with OHS Training

– induction (Policy) – Management training – contractors/temps and

Visitors (checklist – Health – card with 3 points)

Safety induction is delivered to all police recruits (100%) in their

first weeks of employment. a Health, Safety and Wellbeing online induction program for VPS employees is now in place with 100% of new starters required to complete the intranet based program within 3 months of commencement.

over 150 Senior Managers have participated in Safety leadership training. Safety training was extended to include greater numbers of Middle Management personnel including those in non-operational roles and a further 320 have completed this. the total number of middle and senior managers recently completing oHS specific training is now over 470. all managers complete a promotional qualification program, which includes an oHS specific module.

in addition, a comprehensive oHS committee training program has been completed and the HSW training Strategy is being reviewed to realign the program given the increased level of knowledge and awareness which now exists in many areas.

14. % of Health & Safety Representatives with OHS Training

– acceptance of role – retrain and refresher

100% HSrs and Deputies are provided training opportunities and encouraged to attend.

15. OHS Survey results from the 2008 People Matter Survey indicate the following

improvements in oHS perceptions.

Level of Support and Recognition of HSRs: results show an improved level

of HSr engagement, from 74% to 82%.

Workplace consultation and participation: the level of meaningful

employee consultation on oHS has risen from 70% to 76%.

Management Commitment: the majority of employees (91%) see evidence

of their managers and our organisation’s commitment to oHS improvements.

Awareness of OHS Policies: 87% of employees feel that health and safety

matters in Victoria Police are addressed by work instructions, policies and procedures.

Reporting of incidents and injuries: 90% of employees in Victoria Police

believe they are encouraged to report health and safety incidents and injuries and 88% believe corrective action is taken.

ANNUAL REPORT 2008// 2009

ANNUAL

REPORT

2008//

2009

vic

t

oria

police

ANNU

AL

REPORT

2008

//

2009

Contents

Foreword from the

Chief Commissioner

Section 1

Section 2

Chief

Commissioner

Simon Overland

Section 3

Section 4