The Victoria Police Academy is the main induction training establishment for the

Victoria Police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victor ...

. It is located at 1 View Mount Road, in Glen Waverley, in the south-eastern suburbs of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The grounds encompass .

History

The site was built from 1954 – 59 as the main campus of Corpus Christi College, a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

of the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Archdiocese of Melbourne The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne is a Latin Rite metropolitan archdiocese in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Erected initially in 1847 as the Diocese of Melbourne, a suffragan diocese of Archdiocese of Sydney, the diocese was el ...

, from 1959–1972. The main chapel was intended to have wings of offices and accommodation either side, however only the southern wing was built before the College was sold. The Victoria Police bought the site on 30 October 1972, and opened the Academy in 1973. Offices occupy the former seminarians rooms; the former kitchen and dining room now serve the current Academy. Additional buildings for instruction and student accommodation, sports facilities and a

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

nasium and indoor

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

, were erected in the 1980s, and a mock village was added later for scenario training purposes.

Training

Newly inducted recruits spend 31 weeks at the Academy. In 2004 an inquiry uncovered systemic bullying and the head and two other staff were transferred out of the Academy. The Academy also houses the Detective Training School (DTS) used for training of

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

s. There is also obstacle equipment and fields where the Dog Squad often train.

Academy facility upgrade

In order to increase the Academy’s capacity to accommodate the training of an additional 1700 police and 940 PSOs by November 2014, 15.4 million was provided to Victoria Police to upgrade the Victoria Police Academy in 2013-14. The significant works included: * an operational tactics and safety training complex with a new firing range, a ‘soft fall’ area for conducted energy device and defensive tactics training, and a simulator, for firearm and operational safety training * a new training system, called Hydra, which simulates a variety of operational scenarios, ranging from vehicle intercepts to large-scale criminal investigations and emergencies, such as bushfires * a railway platform for PSO training, new classrooms for training, improvements to bathroom and change room facilities, a dining room upgrade and extra car parking space.

New operational tactics and safety training facility

Construction of a new police training facility alongside the new Victorian Emergency Management Training Centre in Craigieburn commenced in 2013–14. The now complete 30 million Victoria Police facility replaced a facility located at Essendon Fields. The Craigieburn complex will house administration and training staff and include an indoor firing range, scenario training village, classrooms, an auditorium, conference centre and fitness facilities. Police can undertake compulsory training twice a year at either this facility, the Victoria Police Academy or other locations in country Victoria depending on location.

Chapel

The former Corpus Christi Chapel was built as a

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

to model for seminarians the orders of

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity or God. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition of a God. An act of worship may be performed individually, in an informal or formal group, ...

, and has 14 side altars in the

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

for rehearsal of

sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol ...

s. The architecture is a blend of the form of a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

with a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

ceiling and

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

arches and exterior

flying buttress The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of a ramping arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, to convey to the ground the lateral forces that push a wall ou ...

es. The chapel is long, wide, and high. The chapel can seat up 500 people. The main

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

is surmounted by a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

bearing the words in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, "Christus Altare Nostrum" (Christ Our Altar). The cross on the cupola is , and weighs . The cross was constructed by retired Senior Sargeant Norm Lieschke from Queensland maple that was donated by the Police Association. Within the main chapel are stained glass windows, designed by Stephen Moor of Sydney, those on the left in red tones (for the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

) with medallions representing the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

, those on the right in blue tones (for

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

) with medallions representing the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

. To the right of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

is the Chapel of Remembrance, with an

eternal flame An eternal flame is a flame, lamp or torch that burns for an indefinite time. Most eternal flames are ignited and tended intentionally, but some are natural phenomena caused by natural gas leaks, peat fires and coal seam fires, all of which ca ...

and memorial plaques for police officers who have died on duty. This chapel was dedicated during the Annual Church Service in 1988. To the left is the chapel of

St Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

, where the families of police can erect a plaque remembering a deceased police officer. The chapel was rededicated as an

interfaith Interfaith (also called "interreligion") may refer to various ways of relating between beliefs, creeds, ideologies, faiths, or religions: * Interfaith conflict (disambiguation) * Interfaith dialogue, also known as interfaith cooperation * Interfai ...

chapel on 20 October 1974. The

lectern A lectern is a standing reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of ...

is adorned with the

Star of David The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decora ...

. The chapel is used for

wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

Baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

s, and

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

s, for Victoria Police members only.

Gallery

Victoria Police Ensign.JPG, Ensign of the Victoria Police. Victoria Police St Michael.JPG, Chapel of

, the patron saint of Police. Victoria Police Remembrance.JPG, Chapel of Remembrance for Police who died on duty.

Trivia

The academy is used by aircraft as an inbound reporting point when attempting to enter both the Moorabbin Airport Class D and Essendon Airport Class C control zones.

References

{{Authority control Chapels in Australia Government buildings in Melbourne Police academies in Australia Victoria Police Glen Waverley, Victoria Buildings and structures in the City of Monash 1973 establishments in Australia