- About the job
- What we do
- Great work life-balance
- The skills you need
- Application process
- Eligibility
- Your personal information is private
On this page
About the job
Every day as a sheriff’s officer is different. You will work with people from all walks of life and regularly take on new challenges and experiences.
Sheriff's officers are responsible for enforcing warrants and orders issued by the courts. It’s an important role that makes members of the public accountable for unpaid fines and contributes to a safer Victoria.
Sheriff’s officers work in dedicated local areas across metropolitan Melbourne or regional Victoria.
The work is mostly out of the office, so it’s a great job if you like to be out on the road and in the community.
What we do
Our role as sheriff’s officers is to help people honour their legal obligations.
We could be working with:
- someone with years of unpaid traffic fines to get them resolved
- a company to collect money they owe resulting from a VCAT hearing
- a homeowner who has ignored requests from their bank to bring their mortgage payments up to date
- someone who has failed to appear in court as required.
As sheriff’s officers, we work with a wide range of people and our plans can change quickly.
We’re given autonomy to manage our own time and the tasks we must complete.
Tasks can include:
- demand and collecting payments
- applying wheel-clamps to vehicles.
- seizing and removing property for the purpose of sale
- arresting a person named in a warrant
Learn about what sheriff's officers do in the video below:
Great work life-balance
Working as a sheriff’s officer one of the best jobs around for work-life balance.
Our eight-day per fortnight work roster means you:
- enjoy a four-day weekend every second week
- work Monday to Friday only
- work a combination of early and afternoon shifts, covering operational hours of 7am to 9.30pm
- are not required to work public holidays
- special operations may occasionally be scheduled at night, on weekends or public holidays.
Sarah, sheriff's officer
Sarah was looking at jobs for her husband when an advertisement to become a sheriff’s officer caught her eye.
‘I was on maternity leave and not looking to go back to work, but when I saw it and read the description, I thought it sounded really interesting,’ she said.
Sarah graduated as a sheriff’s officer in September 2013 and is now working within the Melbourne metropolitan area.
‘Every day is different,’ she said. ‘You never know what you will find on the other side of the door.’
The former legal assistant decided to apply to be a sheriff’s officer because previous experience wasn’t required and there was full training provided.
‘I can’t speak highly enough of the training. It gave me the tools I needed to do the job,’ Sarah said.
The rostered hours and short commute also appealed to Sarah, because of her family commitments.
‘My office is five minutes down the road, which is great.’
Two years into the role, Sarah said the job has exceeded her expectations and she is looking forward to a long career as a sheriff’s officer.
The skills you need
Being a sheriff’s officer is all about working closely with people to achieve the required outcome in difficult circumstances. To be successful in the job, you will need to have a genuine interest in people from all walks of life. You will naturally treat others with empathy and respect and be skilled at gaining others’ cooperation.
You will often work with challenging members of the public in difficult circumstances. Some will try to make it hard for you and you may receive verbal abuse. You will need to stand your ground, stay focused on the task and remain calm and respectful.
You will also need resilience, which in this job means not taking some of the language and treatment you will experience personally.
Finally, you will need to be a good team player. You will be part of a close-knit team and what you achieve will be reflected in the team’s results.
Watch a simulation of a sheriff’s officer conducting a general warrant execution above. You will see how the officer uses his communication skills to eventually gain the debtor’s cooperation.
Application process
Online Application
Fill in the online application form.
Allow 15 to 30 minutes
Situational Judgement Test
Complete the situational judgement test.
Allow 20 to 30 minutes online
One Way Video interview
Attend and pass the video interview.
Allow 1 hour online
Online Assessment Centre
Live two-way interview and practical simulations.
Security and Background Checks
Undergo and pass the security and background checks.
Psychometric Assessments and Reference Checks
Complete the psychometric assessments.
Allow 1 hour online
Medical and Physical Assessment
Undergo and pass the medical and physical assessments.
Verbal Offer and Additional Security Checks
Receive verbal offer, and undergo and pass additional security checks.
Eligibility
Sheriff’s officers are frequently required to perform key duties including:
- collecting monies in the course of their duties
- attending the houses and businesses of members of the public
- driving a vehicle.
For this reason, every applicant must meet a range of requirements to be eligible for selection.
All sheriff’s officer appointments are subject to the following checks:
- offence history and national police record (refer to Disclosing offences for more information)
- VicRoads information and license check
- warrant history
- Australian Securities Investments Commission bankruptcy
- conflict of interest
- reference checks
- medical and physical assessment.
You will be asked to disclose some information about yourself so that the department can determine if your application is suitable.
It is important to provide truthful and accurate information. Failing to declare details or supplying false or misleading information may lead to your application being deemed ineligible.
This may result in:
- an application not proceeding
- any offer of employment being withdrawn
- commenced employment being terminated.
Declaring associations and conflicts of interest
You will be asked to declare any association or potential conflict of interest that may affect your ability to fulfil the role.
Disclosing outside employment
You must disclose any other employment you wish to undertake while working as a sheriff’s officer.
Disclosing offences
You tell us about any disclosable criminal offences.
There are certain offences and/or disclosures that may disqualify your application.
For example, if you have:
- served any term of imprisonment.
- served a sentence in a youth justice centre (including juvenile justice centre or youth training centre) within the past five years.
- been a client supervised by a corrections agency, (e.g., on a supervised community order or placed in home detention) within the past 10 years
- been found guilty of a sexual offence, a homicide, or a drug trafficking offence.
- been involved in a serious property crime, particularly in circumstances posing physical risk or potential risk to victims.
- committed any offence against a lawful authority.
- committed any offence involving fraud.
- been subject to a final intervention order (unlimited timeframe).
There are also several disqualifying offences under the Control of Weapons Act 1990.
If you have a disclosable offence on your criminal record check
If a disclosable offence appears on your criminal record check, the department may seek more information from you.
You may be asked about the nature of the offence, when it occurred and the penalty and any relevant background information.
Your personal information is private
The selection process and all matters relating to it are treated in the strictest confidence. Personal information received during the selection process will be managed in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014.
Sheriff's officer opportunities
We are not currently recruiting.
Register your interest to be notified when applications reopen.