New headquarters for Victoria Police

By Marco Holden Jeffery

A new Victoria Police Centre, dubbed the “heart and soul of policing in Victoria”, has opened at 311 Spencer St.

The 39-storey building is connected to the existing 313 Spencer St complex by a series of bridges and pathways, and would host more than 5300 staff across 26 commands and departments once moved from their current headquarters at the World Trade Centre on Flinders St in late July.

The new building was officially opened on Thursday, June 25 with a plaque unveiling attended by Chief Commissioner of Police Graham Ashton and Minister for Police Lisa Neville.

Chief Commissioner Ashton said the facility was a big step in the force’s modernisation program and would “usher in an exciting new chapter for Victoria Police”.

The new centre and its old neighbour would now be the consolidated, highly-secure location for all of Victoria Police’s CBD operations, housing 7000 officers and support staff between the two.

The project included the construction of a helipad for the Police Air Wing where the force’s three new Leonardo AW139 helicopters would be able to land, allowing for easy coordination of critical incident responses in the city •