Victoria Police Academy
the 25-week course, week by week

Victoria Police has rebuilt its recruit training around speed and volume. In July 2025 it cut the Police Foundation Training Program from 31 weeks to 25, and in May 2026 it announced it would double its intake to 1,300 recruits a year, with 52 starting every fortnight. The first regional academy opens in Mildura in January 2027.

Three things set Victoria apart. You're sworn in early, at week 12, so most of the course is on constable pay. Your probation runs to week 116, more than two years after you start. And the shorter course means the Academy can graduate more than 70 extra officers a year, according to Victoria Police.

In Victoria you're a sworn constable for more than half of your academy course.

The main Academy is at 1 View Mount Road, Glen Waverley VIC 3150. From 18 January 2027 a regional academy in Mildura will run the same 25-week program for recruits from the Mallee (see the Mildura section).

Living in is optional

Living in isn't compulsory. If you live more than 40 km from the Academy you can take a dormitory room. It costs $529.50 a fortnight and covers meals Monday to Friday, computer access, the physical training facilities and study space. Live-in recruits can go home at weekends.

Board is a real cost. On the recruit rate, $529.50 is about 27% of a fortnight's take-home pay, by our calculation. Across the whole course it adds up to about $6,619. If you live within commuting distance, weigh that against fuel, tolls and a 7:30am start.

The Police Foundation Training Program is full-time and in person. Victoria Police publishes what each block covers, so you can see exactly where you'll be at each point.

1. 1

   Weeks 1 to 12: foundations

   Recruit rate

   Law, communication skills, drill, operational safety tactics including firearms, family violence response, community engagement and road policing, plus an observation day at a police station.

2. 2

   Week 12: sworn in

   Milestone

   Once you've passed every week 1 to 12 assessment you're sworn in as a Constable and move to Constable pay ($84,060). Leave of 4 days falls in week 12 or 13.

3. 3

   Weeks 14 and 15

   Sworn

   Suspect interviewing, public order and responding to active armed offenders.

4. 4

   Week 16: first field placement

   Placement

   A week on placement covering the watchhouse and patrol.

5. 5

   Weeks 17 to 20

   Sworn

   Family violence, road policing, legislation and intelligence practice.

6. 6

   Week 21: second field placement

   Placement

   A placement such as Highway Patrol, a Family Violence unit or a Proactive Policing Unit.

7. 7

   Week 22: leave

   Leave

   A full week of leave. That and the 4 days around week 12 are the only leave in the course.

8. 8

   Weeks 23 to 25: final stage and graduation

   Graduation

   You must have passed every assessment from weeks 1 to 25, then graduate at a formal march-out.

After graduation, training continues. Weeks 26 to 52 are placements, starting with a public order deployment, and weeks 53 to 116 are at a permanent training station as a general duties officer, including driver training. See graduation to week 116.

Victoria's published curriculum covers every area a general duties constable needs. Here's how the subjects fall across the course.

Teaching uses specialist lecturers, reality-based training, simulations, scenarios and case studies. Expect role plays where you deal with a mock incident and are assessed on what you say and do, not just written tests.

Victoria has two published assessment gates. To be sworn in at week 12 you must pass every assessment from weeks 1 to 12. To graduate at week 25 you must have passed every assessment from weeks 1 to 25. There's no partial credit: everything has to be passed.

Fitness standard

Victoria Police doesn't publish a separate fitness standard for the Academy itself, so treat the entry test as your baseline.

The beep test standard of Level 5.01 is one of the lower ones in Australia, but the Academy is physical every day. Arrive fitter than the minimum. Our Victoria Police fitness test guide explains each test.

You're paid from day one. Until you're sworn in at the end of week 12 you're on the recruit rate, $61,187 a year from 1 June 2026 (rising to $63,023 from 1 June 2027). From swearing in you move to Constable point 1, $84,060, which already includes the 13% commuted penalty. Allowances, penalties and overtime start after swearing in.

By our calculation, a recruit earns about $35,135 gross across the 25 weeks: 12 weeks at the recruit rate and 13 at Constable point 1. That's well above what the recruit rate alone suggests. Our recruit pay comparison shows how that stacks up against other forces.

Victoria charges no course fee. Your main costs are the optional board, getting to Glen Waverley, and the pre-entry items you pay for during the application.

Recruits accrue recreation leave at 5.107 hours per completed week of initial training under the agreement, but the course only allows the scheduled leave in weeks 12 or 13 and week 22.

Victoria Police gives the usual hours as 7:30am to 3:35pm, Monday to Friday. Graduation days, afternoon shifts and placements can run to different times. That's an early start for anyone commuting across Melbourne, which is one reason some recruits live in.

The checklist is our summary of the published curriculum, not an official timetable. Victoria doesn't publish a day-by-day schedule, so expect each week to mix these differently.

You graduate at a formal march-out at the end of week 25. Victoria Police says you may be sent to any Victorian location based on operational need. In January 2026 three squads, 66 recruits, graduated together: the last on the 31-week course and the first on the 25-week course.

1. 1

   Weeks 26 to 52: placements

   Year 1

   A series of placements, starting with a public order deployment.

2. 2

   Weeks 53 to 116: permanent training station

   Year 2

   General duties at a permanent station, including driver training.

3. 3

   After week 116: confirmation

   2 years 13 weeks

   You receive the POL50124 Diploma of Policing and are confirmed as a Police Constable.

Through week 116 of training (2 years 13 weeks), ending with the POL50124 Diploma of Policing. Most of the big allowances, including the Operational Readiness and General Duties allowances, are covered in our Victoria Police salary guide.

Victoria's first regional academy is in Mildura. Applications for the first intake closed at midnight on 17 July 2026, and training is expected to start on 18 January 2027. It's aimed at Mallee locals who couldn't travel to Melbourne for 25 weeks.

Victoria Police says Mildura runs the same 25-week program, entry requirements and assessments as Glen Waverley, with a local graduation and deployment to the Mallee. More than 170 people expressed interest in the first fortnight. The regional academy isn't permanent: locations may change over time, and a Gippsland pilot is expected in late 2027 or early 2028. A capacity of 100 recruits a year appeared in a search summary only, so we haven't confirmed it.

Separately, Labor has pledged a new academy in Wyndham ahead of the November 2026 state election. It's an election promise, not a confirmed program.

The 25-week course is compressed, so falling behind early is costly. These tips follow from the published structure.

Victoria's course is mid-length, but its early swearing-in makes it one of the better-paid courses overall. Compare it with the other forces below.

Still applying? See the Victoria Police joining guide and the Victoria Police entrance exam guide.