The Case

The Police Federation of Australia (Victoria Police Branch) v Chief Commissioner of Police T/A Victoria Police (2022)

In or around October 2021, a constable in the transit safety division of Victoria Police requested to change his shift pattern from five 8-hour shifts each week to four 10-hour shifts per week. This was to accommodate his parenting responsibilities. After consultation, Victoria Police refused the request for the following reasons:

• it had chronic staff shortages, with 17% of its workforce on various forms of leave at any given time;
• the constable worked predominantly van shifts and Victoria Police required 156 van shifts per fortnight, but was currently operating with only 120; and
• there were additional tasking, operations and additional deployments that also required coverage.