Wellington Shire wants future generations of police officers to be trained at a purpose-built facility at the former West Sale Airport and TAFE site.

What’s happening: At a council meeting last week, Wellington Shire councillors unanimously agreed to lobby the Victorian Government to locate a new Gippsland regional police academy at the former West Sale Airport and TAFE site. 

Mayor Cindy Madeley told the Monitor the 180-hectare old airport at Fulham would be ideal: “As it was previously a TAFE site, it already has a number of buildings, classrooms and a pool that can be used for training. It could be brought up to standard for a lot cheaper than building a new facility.”

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In July, the state government said it would fund two regional police academies, one each in Mildura and Gippsland. They are expected to open in late 2027 or early 2028.

The Gippsland location hasn’t been selected.

  • There is currently only one permanent police academy in the state, in Melbourne’s eastern suburb of Glen Waverley. 

In September, Victorian Premier Ben Carroll said if re-elected in November a Labor government would also build a new training facility at Wyndham in Melbourne’s southwest. 

These three facilities are part of an effort to recruit an extra 1,500 police officers.

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Several Gippsland towns in other shires were identified by Victoria Police as possible locations for the new facility, including Traralgon, Wonthaggi and Warragul - but Wellington is the first and only Gippsland council to have made a pitch.

Madeley said the academy would be funded by the state and Wellington Shire's role was only to advocate for a site.

She said the council had been considering what to do with West Sale Airport after TAFE Gippsland left the Fulham campus in April 2022 to move to new facilities at the Port of Sale.

Madeley argued the former TAFE buildings could be adapted to support police recruit training with minimal modification.

Details around job and student numbers are not available yet, but the mayor is confident an academy would stimulate the local economy.

In the wake of the meeting, the council has written to the premier, minister for police, minister for regional development and local MPs advocating for the West Sale Airport.

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