TPAV Journal - The Police Association Victoria

Delegates reunite at
September conference
Last month’s delegates’ conference presented another opportunity
for our delegates to reunite and discuss the important issues
affecting the broader membership.
Peter Ryan, Deputy Premier and
minister for Police & Emergency
Services, officially opened
the September conference,
congratulating delegates and
members on the good work they do for
the community.
"I have great regard for the blue; I’ve said it
with great pride over the years. I’ve formed
many associations with members, and it’s
given me an insight into the type of work
that you do. I pay regard to you and what
you’re engaged in," said mr Ryan.
following the opening addresses, a variety
of issues surrounding pay entitlements,
staffing levels and rosters emerged as key
themes. Police resourcing was a major
concern shared by all delegates, with many
concerned about various risks members
are exposed to due to poor resourcing and
under-staffing at station level despite more
police being recruited.
14 Protect Represent Support. www.tpav.org.au
Chief Commissioner Ken Lay, spoke before
the lunch break, providing delegates with a
brief overview of the current issues affecting
policing in Victoria. Amongst the challenges
mr Lay spoke about were state budget cuts,
sustainable government initiatives and
police resourcing.
"with 1,700 additional uniforms, we can’t
afford for those uniforms to be leaking into
the back office. we need to change the
way we do business to ensure that doesn’t
happen. This is going to be a challenge for
me, the Executive and the Organisation
to figure out how we’re going to pull these
numbers from the back office without
impacting on operations," said mr Lay.
The Chief Commissioner also spoke
about new police uniforms, as well as the
importance of supporting PSOs through the
initial rollout period.
A special presentation introducing the new
TPAV smartphone application, TPAV Assist, was
well received, sparking particular interest from
interstate and New Zealand police associations
who are yet to go down the ‘Smartphone’ path.
Our new smartphone app is now available
for all members to download from relevant
Apple and Android marketplaces.
Another keynote speaker was James
merlino, Deputy Leader of the Opposition
and Acting Shadow Police & Emergency
Services minister. mr merlino spoke about
past and future Labor policies and initiatives,
allowing delegates to hear views from both
sides of the political spectrum throughout
the course of the day.
Association Secretary, Greg Davies, provided
delegates a thorough overview of the past
six months from an Association perspective
in his Secretary’s report, while Reverend Jim
Pilmer and Reverend Dr John broughton
gave an important welfare presentation in
regards to what to do and how to prepare in
the event of a death. Any members wanting