The size of the exam will be reduced from eight testing sections to four, cutting the time to complete it to two hours from the original 4½.
Prospective officers will still have to answer 100 questions and tasks, and will be tested in literacy, abstract reasoning, report writing and numeracy.
Morgan said police forces in other jurisdictions, including the Queensland Police Service, now successfully conducted their entrance exams remotely.
The tests will be supervised by a real person in real time, and applicants will need to verify their identity and keep their camera on at all times.
Supervisors will be able to see the computer screen of the applicants as they do the test using a special secure browser and perform remote sweeps of their computer for any unauthorised software.
Applicants will also be asked to do a 360-degree pan of the room they are sitting in to ensure their phone is stored away, and they aren’t wearing an earpiece.
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The Australian Council for Educational Research will oversee the testing, which will be timed, recorded and reviewed.
Recruits will still be able to complete the exam in person if they wish.
The decision to streamline the testing comes after Victoria Police moved to have GPs sign off on the mental fitness of recruits, instead of the force’s medical officers, in July.
The decision drew criticism from the country’s peak doctors’ group and veteran officers, who expressed dismay at the watering down of recruitment procedures.
The force has since defended the decision, pointing to new data showing that a similar number of applicants are progressing through the psychological assessment since the change.
According to the figures, in the three months after the change, 72 per cent of prospective recruits passed the assessment, compared with 77 per cent before the change.
So far, GPs have signed off on psychological or medical assessments for 425 applicants and referred 22 applicants back to Victoria Police.
“Under the old model, it would take an average of 14 weeks for an applicant to progress through the psychological assessment gateway,” a police spokesperson said. “Under the new arrangements, this time has been so far reduced to 11 weeks.”
Earlier this year, the force scrapped minimum education requirements and waived the entrance exam for candidates with an ATAR of 65 or above and functional English. It also scrapped a mandatory one-on-one appointment with a psychologist.
Police Association of Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said the force had about 2000 vacancies, including those on WorkCover and unfilled positions, and that could not be remedied with the current “outdated and bloated recruiting model”.
“Good Victorian applicants are missing out on an exciting career in Victoria Police because of recruiting methods that need to change,” Gatt said. “We’re pleased that the tide is starting to turn towards a better process.
“Any measure that seeks to create more timely and efficient recruitment and does not compromise the standards of the application process has [our] support.”
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