List of chief commissioners of the Victoria Police

The Chief Commissioner of the Victoria Police is the head of Victoria's police force. The Chief Commissioner and his staff act as the first point of contact between Victoria Police, government departments and relevant government ministers.^[1]

The current Chief Commissioner is Shane Patton. He assumed the office in 2020.

Roles and powers

The Chief Commissioner is the chief constable and the chief executive officer of Victoria Police, and reports to the Minister for Police.

Under the Victoria Police Act 2013, it is the responsibility of the Chief Commissioner to implement relevant policy and law of the Government within the police force, advising and informing the Police Minister on the operations of the police force, and is responsible for general conduct, performance and operations of Victoria Police.^[2]

Term of the chief commissioner

It is the duty of the Governor of Victoria to appoint the chief commissioner.^[3] The candidate for the role is typically chosen on the advice of the sitting Premier of Victoria.

The chief commissioner can be appointed for a maximum term of five years, however, they may, albeit rare, be reappointed after their five year term.^[4]

List of chief commissioners

Ordinal	Name	Post-nominals	Term began	Term ended	Time in office	Notes
1	Sir William Mitchell		3 January 1853	24 January 1854	1 year, 21 days	^[5]^[citation needed]
2	Sir Charles MacMahon		15 February 1854	3 September 1858	4 years, 200 days	^[citation needed]
3	Frederick Standish		3 September 1858	11 September 1880	22 years, 8 days	^[citation needed]
4	Hussey Chomley		6 March 1882	27 March 1902	20 years, 21 days	^[6]^[7]
5	Thomas O'Callaghan		1 April 1902	31 March 1913	10 years, 364 days	^[8]^[9]
6	Alfred Sainsbury	JP	1 April 1913	28 February 1919	5 years, 333 days	^[10]^[11]
7	Sir George Steward	KBE, CMG, VD, JP	1 March 1919	11 May 1920	1 year, 71 days	^[12]^[13]
8	Sir John Gellibrand	KCB, DSO & Bar	1 September 1920	7 February 1922	1 year, 159 days	^[14]^[15]
9	Alexander Nicholson		8 February 1922	10 August 1925	3 years, 183 days	^[16]^[17]
10	Sir Thomas Blamey	GBE, KCB, CMG, DSO, ED	1 September 1925	9 July 1936	10 years, 312 days	^[18]^[19]
11	Alexander Duncan	CMG	14 February 1937	30 December 1954	17 years, 319 days	^[20]^[21]
12	Selwyn Porter	CBE, DSO, LVO, ED	1 January 1955	9 October 1963	8 years, 281 days	^[22]^[23]
13	Rupert Arnold	CBE, QPM, JP	15 October 1963	1 February 1969	5 years, 109 days	^[24]^[25]
14	Noel Wilby	LVO, QPM	1 February 1969	5 October 1971	2 years, 246 days	^[26]^[27]
15	Reginald Jackson	CMG, LVO, QPM, JP	12 October 1971	12 June 1977	5 years, 243 days	^[28]^[29]
16	Mick Miller	AO, LVO, QPM	13 June 1977	28 November 1987	10 years, 168 days	^[30]
17	Kel Glare	AO, APM	29 November 1987	28 November 1992	4 years, 365 days	^[31]
18	Neil Comrie	AO, APM	4 January 1993	9 March 2001	8 years, 64 days	^[32]^[33]
19	Christine Nixon	APM	23 April 2001	27 February 2009	7 years, 310 days	^[34]^[35]
20	Simon Overland	APM	2 March 2009	16 June 2011	2 years, 106 days	^[36]^[37]
21	Ken Lay	AO, APM	14 November 2011	31 January 2015	3 years, 78 days	^[38]
22	Graham Ashton	AM, APM	1 July 2015	26 June 2020	4 years, 361 days	^[39]
23	Shane Patton	APM	27 June 2020	Incumbent	3 years, 52 days	^[40]

Reference list

1. "Structure". Victoria Police. 21 February 2022. from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
2. "Victoria Police Act 2013" (PDF). Legislation Victoria. 6 April 2020. section 16. (PDF) from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
3. Victoria Police Act 2013, section 17.
4. Victoria Police Act 2013, Part 1 of Schedule 1.
5. Swanton, Bruce; Hannigan, Garry (1985). "Police Source Book 2" (PDF). Australian Institute of Criminology. p. 398. (PDF) from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
6. "Chief Commissioner of Police". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 7 March 1882. p. 1882:603.
7. "RETIREMENT OF MR. H. M. CHOMLEY". Argus. 29 March 1902. p. 13. from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
8. "Acting Chief Commissioner of Police". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 26 March 1902. p. 1902:1187.
9. Haldane, Robert. "O'Callaghan, Thomas (1845–1931)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
10. "The Police Force. - New Chief Commissioner Assumes Control". The Age. 1 April 1913. p. 9. from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
11. "Personal". Warwick Daily News. 2 March 1920. p. 2. from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
12. "About People". The Age. 3 March 1919. p. 6. from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
13. "Death of Sir Geo. Steward". The Age. 12 May 1920. p. 9. from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
14. "New Police Commissioner". The Age. 11 August 1920. p. 9. from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
15. "Police Commissioner. - Sir John Gellibrand Retires on Tuesday". The Age. 4 February 1922. p. 12. from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
16. Haldane, Robert (2 April 1982). "The Victoria Police Strike - 1923". The Australian Police Journal. from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
17. "Police Control - Mr. Nicholson Resigns". The Age. 11 August 1925. p. 9. from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
18. "Brigadier-General Blamey". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 September 1925. p. 11. from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
19. "Sir T. A. Blamey Resigns". The Age. 10 July 1936. p. 9. from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
20. "New Police Chief Assumes Control Next Sunday". The Age. 3 February 1937. p. 12. from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
21. "Front Page". The Age. 31 December 1954. p. 1. from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
22. "Police Chief Plans for Trainees to Build Force". The Age. 31 December 1954. p. 4. from the original on 19 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
23. "Many Pay Tribute to Mr Porter". The Age. 10 October 1963. p. 7. from the original on 19 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
24. "New Police Chief Rose from Ranks". The Age. 15 October 1963. p. 3. from the original on 19 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
25. Wilby, Noel (11 June 1969). Annual Report of the Police Department Victoria, Australia for the Year 1968 (PDF) (Report). A. C. Brooks, Government Printer, Melbourne. p. 5. (PDF) from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
26. Hopper, Ken (15 January 1969). "Recruit's Rise to Top Job in Police". The Age. p. 3. from the original on 19 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
27. "Police Regulation (Chief Commissioner) Act 1971". AustLii. Victorian Parliament. 5 October 1971. s. 2 (1). from the original on 19 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
28. Miller, Sinclair (17 November 2015). "Statement" (PDF). Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. p. 1. (PDF) from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
29. "Tall Trees Family History - Victoria Police - Time Line". myweb.westnet.com.au. from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
30. Victoria Police. "A policing legend farewelled". issuu. from the original on 19 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
31. Glare, Kelvin (4 May 2021). "Submission to Lsic Inquiry Into Justice System" (PDF). p. 1. (PDF) from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
32. Haldane, Robert (1995). The people's force : a history of the Victoria police (2nd ed.). Carlton South, Vic., Australia: Melbourne University Press. p. 384. ISBN 9780522846744. from the original on 15 January 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
33. The people's force : a history of the Victoria police, p. 567.
34. "Nixon OAM". State Government of Victoria. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
35. Moor, Keith (27 February 2009). "Christine Nixon fires one more shot before retiring". Herald Sun. from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
36. "Overland appointed head of Victoria Police". ABC News. 2 March 2009. from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
37. Levy, Megan (16 June 2011). "'I wasn't pushed,' says Overland of resignation". The Age. from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
38. Lay, Kenneth (15 December 2019). "Statement of Kenneth Douglas Lay AO" (PDF). Royal Commission into the Management of Police lnformants. p. 1. (PDF) from the original on 25 December 2022. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
39. Ashton, Graham (7 September 2020). "Witness Statement of Graham Leonard Ashton AM APM" (PDF). COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Inquiry. p. 1. (PDF) from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
40. "Victoria's Next Police Chief Commissioner Appointed". Premier of Victoria (Press release). 1 June 2020. from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.