Strategic Direction 2024 to 2028

Our vision

A trusted justice and community safety system that works together to build a just, safe, and resilient Victoria.

Our focus

1. Deliver Government priorities and commitments.
2. Manage our legislative and contractual obligations.
3. Mitigate operational and service delivery risk.

Our ministerial portfolios

• Police
• Crime Prevention
• Attorney-General
• Emergency Services
• Corrections
• Youth Justice
• Victim Support
• Casino, Gaming and Liquor
• Racing

Our organisational priorities

We will support delivery of our core business and government commitments through the following organisational priorities:

Safe, supported and capable workforce

Enabling a healthy and thriving workforce that thinks safety and works safely.

• Building a stronger safety and wellbeing culture in which staff feel confident and safe to speak up.
• Supporting staff to succeed through capability development and supervision.
• Reducing occupational violence, injuries and other forms of workplace harm.
• Building a culturally safe workplace that supports self-determination, diversity, inclusion and intersectionality.

Aboriginal justice

Ensuring a culturally safe justice system for Aboriginal people, shaped by self-determination. 

• Embedding self-determination and cultural safety in all justice and community safety systems and services.
• Reducing over-representation of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system.
• Considering and addressing the potential impacts on Aboriginal people in all policy and service development.

Safer community and positive client impact

Work collaboratively to provide effective justice services that keep the Victorian community safe and improve outcomes for our clients.

• Collaborating with other departments, agencies and sector partners to ensure that, where appropriate, services are effective, coordinated, integrated and easy to navigate.
• Delivering positive community and client outcomes via effective and integrated services that reflect the diverse needs of our clients.
• Designing person and family-centred services that are informed by the lived experience of our clients.
• Focusing on respect and protecting human rights in service design and delivery.
• Strengthening early intervention approaches that drive down demand for justice services, including repeat contact.

Service-oriented corporate and people services

Provide efficient and effective corporate and people services to the department that build employee engagement, manage risk and are cost effective.

• Delivering service-oriented, cost-effective corporate functions that support departmental effectiveness in a strategic and sustainable manner.
• Delivering strategic communications solutions that inform the public and staff of information they need in a way they understand and through channels they access.
• Driving effective management of our technology, data, cyber security, people and financial risks.
• Implementing reforms to strengthen organisational integrity.

Evidence-based decisions

Enabling evidence-based and responsible decision making.

• Embedding a culture of supporting staff to provide frank, fearless and evidence-based advice.
• Improving the use of data and evidence to inform policy, service design and operational decision-making.
• Building a strong learning and evaluation culture, including ongoing reviews of the department’s key operations to measure efficiency and ensure community expectations are met.

Financially sustainable operations

Delivering sustainable services that meet community expectations and mitigate risks.

• Implementing government financial initiatives which are monitored to ensure ongoing sustainability.
• Building financial literacy across the department to ensure decisions are informed by budget impact.
• Improving financial forecasting of future demands on the justice system to inform planning, investment and resourcing decisions.

Our delivery priorities

We will achieve our vision by working together to fulfil the following delivery priorities:

Police and crime prevention

• Equip Victoria Police with the appropriate powers and tools to manage and respond to threats to community safety.
• Support government reforms to improve the emergency response to mental health incidents and public drunkenness.
• Pro-actively manage the Victorian response to violent extremism.
• Work effectively with communities and other parts of justice to understand and respond to the drivers of crime.
• Strengthen the design and delivery of youth services to intervene early and reduce demand for statutory services. 
• Deliver improved road safety outcomes through the road safety camera program.

Emergency management

• Work with Victorians to understand and reduce the risk of emergencies.
• Strengthen our use of data, analytics and intelligence to improve decision making in emergency management.
• Support communities to be prepared and recover well after emergencies.
• Build a sustainable emergency management workforce that represents the people it serves.
• Strengthen governance arrangements to improve accountability, cooperation and participation across the emergency management sector.

Adult Corrections and Youth Justice services

• Deliver custodial and community-based operations that are safe, secure, humane and centre on rehabilitation as part of their core business. 
• Configure the corrections and youth justice systems to ensure resources are aligned to risk and deliver efficient and effective outcomes.
• Work effectively with stakeholders to support custodial and community-based clients to access evidenced-based services that enable rehabilitation, improve health priorities and reduce reoffending.
• Provide evidence-based support, resources and capability development to the corrections and youth justice workforces to enable delivery of respectful, culturally safe, and inclusive services, particularly for vulnerable cohorts.
• Support implementation of the Aboriginal Justice Agreement, including Wirkara Kulpa, promoting Aboriginal self-determination and improving outcomes for Aboriginal people in contact with the corrections and youth justice systems.
• Continue implementation of accepted recommendations from significant reviews, including the Cultural Review of the Adult Custodial Corrections System.

Fair and accessible justice services

• Develop evidence-based policy and legislation that addresses community needs and expectations.
• Support the courts to operate efficiently and effectively to maximise access to justice.
• Improve justice outcomes for the Victorian Aboriginal community, including through implementation of the Aboriginal Justice Agreement.
• Coordinate the delivery of a fair and efficient justice service system with appropriate oversight mechanisms.
• Deliver fair and effective warrant-enforcement and infringement processing services. 

Protecting the rights of Victorians

• Deliver effective, trauma-informed support services to victims of crime to assist them to navigate the justice system and support their recovery.
• Provide policy advice that elevates the voices of victims in justice reform and support enhanced victim participation in justice services. 
• Successfully implement the Victims of Crime Financial Assistance Scheme as an administrative scheme within the department.
• Deliver restorative engagement and redress schemes to acknowledge harm and support participant wellbeing. 

Casino, gaming, liquor and racing regulation

• Engage across a range of stakeholders to inform emerging casino, gaming and liquor policy, implementation and regulatory issues. 
• Respond to emerging gambling issues that increase risk to the Victorian community.
• Ensure liquor policy supports safe conduct, a vibrant sector and responds to emerging community issues.
• Support the racing industry to implement sustainable and safe operations.
• Provide effective governance to ensure a safe, diverse, and responsible racing, gaming and liquor industry focussed on community safety and harm minimisation.