| Full name | Police Association Victoria |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1917 |
| Members | 11,000 |
| Country | Australia |
| Affiliation | Police Federation of Australia |
| Key people | Sen Sgt Paul Mullett, secretary |
| Office location | Melbourne, Victoria |
| Website | www.tpass.com.au |
The Police Association Victoria is the union organisation representing about 11,000 members of the Victoria Police. The association is affiliated with the Police Federation of Australia, representing over 50,000 Australian Police Officers.
The Police Association was formed in 1917 arising from low wages and poor working conditions being endured by Victorian police officers at the time. Police had a long-standing grievance regarding their pension scheme abandoned by the Victorian Government in 1902.
After the 1923 Victorian Police strike, which the organisation never sanctioned, the Police Pensions Act 1923 recognized the organisation as the one employee body with which the Sate Government would deal on police welfare and efficiency matters. A substantial pay rise and improved working conditions resulted from the Act, however it also made it illegal for members of the force to join a ‘political or industrial organisation’, and it threatened a twelve-month prison sentence for any member who withheld his services or caused disaffection.[1]
From 2005 to 2007 claims have been made of bullying by Association Secretary, Sen Sgt Paul Mullett. Victorian Workcover Authority and Victoria police have investigated the bullying allegations, but an ombudsman's report has found these investigations to be inadequate with key evidence ignored and wrongly made notes of political factors such as the state election and police wage negotiations. Mullett has rejected the accusations of bullying saying the report was scandalous and vexatious "One of the key recommendations of the ombudsman's report asks the Victoria Police to again go inside the police association and interfere in their processes and it's not acceptable," he said. His stance was supported by other unions represented by Victorian Trades Hall Council Secretary Brian Boyd[2].
On 15 November 2007, Sen Sgt Paul Mullett was suspended from the Force. This followed concerns expressed by the head of a corruption inquiry, conducted by the Office of Police Integrity, regarding interference in a murder investigation. [3]
Recorded phone conversations, released at the Office of Police Integrity hearings, prompted the Victoria Police Commissioner Christine Nixon to suspend Paul Mullett. [4]
On 29 July 2008 Sen Sgt Mullet was charged with two counts of perjury, two counts of misleading the director of the OPI and one count of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
On 25 June 2009 perjury charges against former police union chief Paul Mullett were withdrawn in the Victorian Supreme Court.