Entry Requirements

Age

Applicants must be a minimum age of 18 years prior to the commencement of the Recruit Training Course.

Good Character and Reputation

Tasmania Police conducts extensive background checks on police officer applicants during the selection process. Your previous history will be continually checked and assessed. Failure to declare information may result in automatic cancellation of your application.

All offences committed by you as a youth must also be disclosed.

Any referees provided will be contacted.

If you have any contact with police during the selection process, you must inform Recruiting Services immediately
(email: recruiting@police.tas.gov.au | phone: 1800 628 680).

Education

If you left school after the year 2020 Tasmania Police educational entry requirements are that you have completed year 12 or a Certificate III. This aligns with the Department for Education, Children and Young People's leaving school requirements.

Those that finished school before this time are required to have completed year 10 with a pass mark (C grade) in Maths and English, or equivalent. Tasmania Police accepts Certificate II in General Education for Adults as an alternative to year 10.

There are no other pre-requisite subjects and no Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) requirements.

Please contact Tasmania Police Recruiting if you seek further clarification on your academic eligibility.

Citizenship

You must be a citizen of Australia or New Zealand or hold Australian permanent residency to join Tasmania Police.

On application to Tasmania Police, you are obliged to provide proof of citizenship or permanent residency. 

Fitness

As a police officer, you will be required to maintain a healthy level of cardio fitness and physical strength in order to meet the physical requirements of the job. As part of the recruitment process, you will be required to undertake fitness evaluation/testing. Please ensure that you have read and understand the Fitness Test Details.

Therefore, it is important to establish an ongoing schedule of exercise to maintain your fitness whilst undertaking the application process and after you are employed by Tasmania Police.

The physical testing is conducted early in the selection continuum and an inability to reach the minimum standards will result in an early removal from the selection process.

Licence

To join Tasmania Police, you must have a current Australian drivers licence (provisional licences are accepted).

If you have an interstate licence it will need to be changed to a Tasmanian licence before commencing your training.

If you have an overseas licence, it must be converted to an Australian drivers licence before you submit an application.

Once employed as a police officer, you may be required to drive vehicles with both automatic and manual transmission.

If you have previously held an interstate licence, you will need to supply a copy of your 'Driving Offence History' which can be obtained from the relevant licencing body (Department of Transport and Main Roads, or similar).

To meet our minimum standards, it is preferred applicants have no driving offences recorded against their licence. All traffic offences and any identified issues with driving behaviour will be considered and may result in an application being rejected. Serious driving offences will generally result in an application being rejected.

A case-by-case assessment however will be made re eligibility/suitability depending on the Traffic Infringement Notice offence, amount received, and circumstances involved.

First Aid and Bronze Medallion

Prior to selection on a recruit course, applicants must have a current First Aid Certificate and a swimming certification from either Royal Life Saving Australia, or alternatively, a Certificate of Swimming Proficiency through AUSTSWIM. The AUSTSWIM certification form can be downloaded here. This must be a Bronze Medallion or Police Rescue Award. Applicants are responsible for obtaining these qualifications. You do not require these qualifications to submit an application to join Tasmania Police.

The minimum First Aid requirement for applicants are the following units of competency:

• HTLAID009 – Provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
• HLTAID010 – Provide Basic Emergency Life Support
• HLTAID011 – Provide First Aid

These may vary depending on Service Provider or State of residence. Should clarification be required, applicants should contact Recruiting Services.

Medical

As a police officer, you will be required to meet the medical requirements in order to perform the role.

As part of your application, you will be required to undertake a medical evaluation. This will include a self-evaluation, an evaluation by a General Practitioner (GP), optometrist and audiologist.

You may also be requested to provide specialist reports depending on your medical history.

Failure to disclose information will result in the cancellation of your application. 

Communication

As a police officer you will be expected to communicate clearly, effectively, in a professional manner and negotiate confidently.

One of the fundamental skills a police officer requires is the ability to communicate effectively. It is critical that our members have the ability to give and receive verbal information in sometimes stressful situations.

Your communication skills will be assessed in a range of mediums such as scenarios, written examination and a board interview.

Association

An inappropriate association is an association with a person or organisation suspected of, or known by the applicant to be engaged in unlawful activity or a person or organisation with a previous history of engaging in unlawful activity. These associations will reflect on community perceptions of your integrity and ability to use authority with integrity. They may also put you in a position where associates attempt to ask you to forgo your duty or otherwise compromise your integrity as an employee of Tasmania Police.

It is important that Tasmania Police are aware of any association or potential conflict of interest which may compromise you or reflect adversely on the organisation. These could be family, friends, members of recreational clubs or other people you associate with. During the application you will be required to declare these. Failure to disclose any information in the application process may result in your application not proceeding.

Your Next Step

If you believe you meet the pre-application requirements, your next step is to lodge an application to join.

The application is for Tasmania Police Recruiting Services to assess your suitability, based on the Pre-Application Requirements.

If considered suitable, you will be invited (in due course) to sit the Police Entrance Exam.

Lodge