200,000 lost shifts: trauma hits cops’ mental health

Victoria Police’s thinner blue line has been revealed amid soaring mental health problems in the force.

Victorian Chief Commissioner Shane Patton. Picture: NewsWire / Nadir Kinani

Spiralling mental health problems among police are driving a surging injury toll that has stripped more than 200,000 shifts from Victoria’s thin blue line.

Victoria Police has confirmed mental health injuries, including those resulting from attending traumatic events, are mostly behind a 12 per cent spike in lost shifts over the past year.

Almost 80 per cent of the 200,354 lost shifts among uniform and unsworn employees were related to mental health and the 2023-24 Victoria Police annual report confirms the problem has been escalating.

In 2021-22, about 140,000 police shifts were lost and this increased to 178,000 in 2022-23, before surging past the 200,000 mark in the past year.

“Victoria Police is committed to reducing the number of workplace injuries sustained by employees and the number of shifts lost,” a police spokesman said.

Victoria Police said the force “continuously review the data to identify trends and opportunities to improve the health and safety of our staff” and the 200,000 lost shifts represented about 3 per cent of all shifts rostered across almost 20,000 employees.

“Victoria Police is working hard to support injured employees return to work while recognising it is important they take the necessary time off to recover,” the spokesman said.

“Mental health injuries, including those resulting from exposure to traumatic events, were the cause of 79 per cent of lost shifts. Sprains and strains, such as those sustained during an arrest or while restraining a suspect, contributed to about 12 per cent of shifts lost.

“Victoria Police has dedicated employees and processes to assist injured employees return to work, with research showing it can be a vital part of their recovery. This includes a team of internal welfare and qualified mental health professionals who provide preventive and early intervention support.”

The Australian has confirmed that as of October 31, Victoria Police had 705 employees on WorkCover who hadn’t returned to work. This comprised 640 police, 33 PSOs and 32 Victorian public service staff.

The serious injury toll has emerged in the midst of a long-running standoff between police command and the Police Association over pay and conditions that has seen police cars scrawled with slogans including “our chief, the thief” and “overworked undervalued”.

The Victoria Police 2023-24 report also revealed:

• Almost $6m has been spent on a recruiting drive amid a serious shortage of officers.

• Legal bills for costs relating to the Lawyer X scandal and other issues were more than $27m, including $18m paid to the Victorian Government Solicitor, $1.6m to Clayton Utz and $3.7m to Corrs Chambers Westgarth.

• Almost $250,000 was spent on a consultant to conduct “ethics training” for Victoria Police.

• Helicopter support services cost almost $30m and fixed wing support services cost about $5m.

• Thirty-five police officers, including deputy and assistant commissioners, travelled overseas to countries including France, Canada, the US, Britain, Netherlands, Italy and Germany to attend policing courses ranging from terrorism to child exploitation and participating in a torch run for the special Olympics.

Four police officers travelled to Papua New Guinea to support the Geelong Youth Engagement Program’s Kokoda Track trip which Victoria Police said helped “relationship building and promoting positive pathways for ‘at risk’ youths”.

Three police officers flew to the US to attend the FBI combat shooting instructors course and study new handgun replacement options for the Special Operations Group and hold talks with the FBI’s hostage rescue team. Several trips were for police to attend events relating to terrorism and offences against children.