TWO students have set the standard for school-based trainees working towards qualifications in administration at Bendigo Police Station.
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The contributions of the Bendigo Senior Secondary College students were highlighted during a visit by Minister for Industry and Employment Ben Carroll yesterday.
“If we had students like the two we’ve had, we would take them every year,” Bendigo Acting Inspector Leesa Johnson said.
“The level of professionalism they have continually shown in our organisation is such a credit to themselves, their school and their families.”
Bendigo’s two trainees are among about 30 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people involved in the $2.4-million school-based traineeship program.
Jobs Victoria and Skillinvest have partnered to deliver the initiative in collaboration with Victoria Police.
The two trainees based in Bendigo are believed to have been the police station’s first participants in the program.
Inspector Johnson said the trainees were gaining an insight into a different side of the organisation than that which many people associated with police work.
“There is a lot of background work that goes into catching offenders and dealing with incidents,” she said.
“Our students are exposed to all of that.”
She said the station’s administration support staff had ‘taken the students under their wing’.
Mr Carroll said the government was seeking to expand the program.
“This collaboration between Victoria Police and Skillinvest is providing a fantastic pathway to get more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Victorians into careers in Victoria Police,” he said.