Victoria Police flags its support

Times are changing especially when it comes to Victoria Police supporting our LGBTIQ communities, on the street and in the workplace.

As a current serving police member from the United Kingdom, I arrived at the Victoria Police Academy some 18 months ago as a law instructor in the hope there was a LGBTIQ support group for recruits and staff who identified as being LGBTIQ. To my surprise, this was not the case.

Having been part of a large police contingent in the UK where it was commonly known that at least 3 percent of its members identified as being LGBTIQ, I knew at that moment I had to make a difference. If anyone knows me, I’m not one to sleep on things but I work to make changes happen.

Well, things have changed significantly in the academy. Our approach to embracing diversity and equity has shifted in a positive direction. Now we have a LGBTIQ network liaison officer for recruits and Protective Services Officers (PSOs) — me.

Recently we did some work with the International Day Against Homophobia campaign which provided us with the opportunity to publicly recommit our support for diversity in the workplace, including sexual diversity.

Our commitment at the Victoria Police Academy was visibly demonstrated on May 17 as the pride flag was raised on our grounds. In making the decision to fly the pride flag, my intentions were to send a visible sign of our commitment to eradicate homophobia and crime-related offences.

Assistant Chief Kevin Scott gave a speech in support of IDAHO and the key messages were woven throughout. The parade was attended by Victoria Police Academy senior manager, constables of police, recruits and PSOs. The message was clear about the commitment to our LGBTI communities.

On a larger scale, this supported part of our larger commitment in tackling hate crime in all its forms and sends a clear message to victims and offenders that offences involving disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or transgender will not be tolerated by Victoria Police.

Research shows that assaults and insulting comments on same-sex attracted and gender-questioning youth have the effect on these people feeling less safe in social or public events, increase the likelihood of abuse of alcohol and other drugs, increase the likelihood of self-harm. The impact is more pronounced if people feel there is no or limited support for them.

In terms of the work environment, it reduces productivity and impedes the realisation of people’s full potential.

Victoria Police is committed to providing a service to all Victorians and to all those visiting this state. In terms of the workplace, we welcome diversity, including sexual diversity.

Our philosophy and approach is reflected in our community engagement strategy, prejudice-motivated crime strategy in which we provide a comprehensive approach that seeks to better understand such crimes, reduce the incidence of these crimes and increases community confidence in our work. This will hopefully improve the reporting of such crimes. Our equity and diversity strategy seeks to improve our internal confidence in our understanding of and encouragement in seeking diversity in the workplace.

INFO: Mikey Welsh is a law educator at the Victoria Police Academy. He is an unsworn member of Victoria Police and is a GLLO for Academy staff and recruits.