Ordinary people, big dreams

One of the big questions facing Victoria Police is how to change the faces people see in the uniform so they better reflect the make-up of people living in Victoria. How can the organisation attract the best and brightest from all communities across Victoria??

One of the answers has come in the form of the Diversity Recruitment Program.?

Established in 2018, the first cohort of recruits were from African Australian communities. The program has expanded since to embrace other under-represented culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) and Aboriginal and Torre Strait communities.?

The 15-week program is designed to help those from diverse communities prepare for the Victoria Police recruitment process, which significantly enhances their chances at being accepted into the Police Academy.??

Another hope for the program is that it will help break down the barriers that often exist between Victoria Police and under-represented communities.?

In a first for the program, the current round of recruits are all Aboriginal and come from mobs across Australia.?

With low numbers of Aboriginal people joining Victoria Police and a general distrust of police in their communities, these recruits have the potential to be role models and leaders.?

The recruits started in the program in September and are working towards taking the exams necessary for acceptance into the Academy.?

In December last year, the recruits were given a tour of the Police Academy and were put through a fitness test as a taste of what was to come if they make it through the recruitment process.?

Two days after the Academy tour, five of the recruits met their mentors. This is an important milestone in the program. Each recruit is paired with a mentor from Victoria Police who will help guide them through recruitment and beyond.??

The session was an opportunity for the mentors to tell the recruits about themselves and the experiences they've had as police officers.?

Each recruit was given the opportunity to speak and nearly all of them mentioned that they wanted to be a police officer since childhood, and how the program is helping make this dream a real possibility.?

They also mentioned resistance from their communities towards one of their own joining the police force. One recruit spoke about her experience and how it changed her career direction.?

"Ever since I was young, I wanted to join the police but there were a lot of barriers in my community and my family. There was a lot a push-back, so I started just working in community," she said.?

Pride was also a strong theme for the mentees - pride in their culture, in themselves and the uniform they aspire to wear.?

"Always wanted to join police, always wanted to get the sense of pride wearing the uniform and serving the community," another said.?

Collectively, the group are hoping to affect change and improve the relationship between police and Aboriginal communities.?

They feel enormous pride in being Aboriginal and have a desire to help police members who might not understand Aboriginal culture change their attitudes towards First Nations people.?

The mentors spoke about the work they do at Victoria Police, their careers so far, and how being a mentor is the best way for them to pass on what they've learnt on the job while encouraging the next generation of police officers.?

It was obvious that all the mentors shared a desire to see the program's recruits succeed and become police officers.?

It's this level of support that makes all the difference to the recruits and will help them realise their dreams of becoming police officer.?

It's also this level of support that will change the faces the Victorian communities see in the Victoria Police uniform.?

Learn more about the Victoria Police Diversity Recruitment Program:

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