Rostered Work Hours

Policing is a 24 hour-a-day, 7 days a week job.  Unfortunately, crime can occur at any time, in any weather, at any location.  Therefore, society needs dedicated police personnel ready to respond to those crimes which occur around the clock.

Most Police Stations operate a fortnightly roster so that members know at least two weeks in advance what shifts they will be working.  

Example Rosters

The following examples are fictional.  They do NOT necessarily represent any actual rosters taken from operational workplaces. 

Different workplaces have different rostering.  For example, many 24 hour Police Stations are undergoing trials of flexible rostering.  To be considered for such a trial a 'ballot' of all members is undertaken and 'majority rules'.  Therefore you may HATE flexible rostering but you may end up stuck with it!  Of course as in most things there are ways around it.  For example, if your station went onto 12 hour shifts and they didn't suit you, there are other options such as working 8 hour shifts "Warrants and Files" etc.  

8 Hour Roster

This roster shows how nightshift is performed on the 8 hour roster.  Members perform a week of nightshift, followed by a "double short (or quick) changeover" (only 8 hours off between shifts) to get their body clocks back in synch, before heading off on 6 consecutive rest days.

You may also notice that a few of the shifts start at 1/2 past the hour (2230) instead of on the hour.  These shifts are Watch House shifts, and start 30 minutes before the changeover of shifts to allow the Watch House Keepers to count all the equipment and do the handover/takeover.

Shifts starting at 8am are traditionally admin shifts to allow members to complete paperwork/correspondence ("corro") or to attend court.

10 Hour Roster

Flexible rostering has allowed changes to occur to the traditional 8 hour roster system.  Stations which aren't required to provide 24 hour response have added flexibility in that they can work a 10 hours a day, giving them 6 days off in every fortnight!  

12 Hour Roster

The 12 hour roster has been met with mixed emotions by members.  As you can no doubt imagine, 12 hours is a long time to be at work.  To combat fatigue, the members performing these duties rotate through the various roles (van duty, watch house, reception) throughout the shift.  The 12 hour shift has mostly seen the demise of the "corro day", with members expected to attend to their corro during the course of their shifts.  In the above example the shifts to equal 80 hours work per fortnight, the roster will have a couple of 8 hour shifts among it.  Therefore you will work 6 x 12 hour shifts (72 hours) and 1 x 8 hour shift.

(Represented by * in the roster above)

Request Book

Don't like your roster?  Got a function coming up that you don't want to miss?  Well, that's what the Request Book is for.

Most stations have a sergeant who is tasked to prepare each fortnightly roster.  Each roster is (depending on each station) released for the members on the last Thursday of the preceding roster (so you only have 3 days notice of what you are working on the Sunday!).

To avoid being rostered on days which you have prior commitments, you can make a note in the Request Book for the information of the Roster Sergeant.  All requests are treated on their own merits, however operational requirements will ALWAYS take precedence (so don't try requesting every weekend off).

Some members in the past have tried writing their own rosters by making requests for the entire fortnight.  This just serves to annoy your fellow workmates (not to mention the Roster Sergeant) so it is best not to make requests "willy-nilly".  A good rule of thumb is to ONLY make a request when it is absolutely necessary.

Mt Thomas Police Station

So now you know what a REAL roster might look like, what about Victoria's most FAMOUS police?  Of course, I'm talking about the crew at Mt Thomas Police Station, made a household name by the TV series "Blue Heelers".

To see what their roster may look like, click here.