Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Jo Stafford announced that public counters will close at four inner-city Melbourne police stations on October 4: Collingwood, Fitzroy, Southbank, and North Melbourne. This change is expected to boost the number of officers available for frontline duties by allowing more police members to be visible in the community. According to Assistant Commissioner Stafford, this decision aims to increase patrols, prevent crime, and strengthen Victoria Police's capacity to hold offenders accountable. The move coincides with a state election debate over law and order and police resourcing, with both Labor and Coalition opposing parties trading accusations over funding and staffing shortages.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-05,
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same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Victoria Police has confirmed that public counters at four inner-city police stations in Melbourne will close on October 4. The affected stations are Collingwood, Fitzroy, Southbank, and North Melbourne. According to Assistant Commissioner Jo Stafford, the closure is part of an operational change aimed at increasing the number of police officers available for frontline duties. However, this move has been met with criticism from opposition politician Brad Battin, who claims it breaks a promise made by the premier. The decision coincides with debate over law and order in Melbourne ahead of the November state election. Despite the closure of counters, the police stations themselves will remain open as operational bases, allowing officers to continue working and deploying from these locations.
Written for “Victoria Police Restructuring” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
In short:
Public counters will close at four inner Melbourne police stations early next month, Victoria Police has confirmed.
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Police → close → stations
Assistant Commissioner Jo Stafford says the operational rejig will boost the number of police officers available for frontline duties.
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rejig → say → duties
While the decision is a Victoria Police operational matter, the move coincides with debate over law and order in Melbourne ahead of the November state election.
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move → coincide → election
Public access to police counter services will end next month at four inner Melbourne stations, feeding into a state election debate over police resourcing.
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access → end → resourcing
Victoria Police confirmed counter services at Collingwood, Fitzroy, Southbank and North Melbourne police stations would close to the public from October 4, although all four stations would remain as operational bases.
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stations → confirm → bases
Assistant Commissioner Jo Stafford said Victoria Police would boost the number of police officers available for frontline duties across inner Melbourne as part of the operational changes.
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Police → say → changes
"The police stations themselves will remain open as operational bases, with officers continuing to work and deploy from these locations around the clock," she said.
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she → remain → clock
"The changes will enable more police members to be visible in the community, conducting patrols, preventing crime, and responding to incidents when and where they are needed most."
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they → enable → incidents
Assistant Commissioner Stafford said additional officers would "support highly visible community safety operations," including Operation Harmony in Melbourne's CBD and Operation Assurance along Victoria Street.
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officers → say → Street
The changes will also strengthen Victoria Police's capacity to hold offenders to account and manage prisoners."
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changes → strengthen → prisoners
She said the four stations losing counter service were all within a short distance of neighbouring police stations including Melbourne West, Melbourne East, and Richmond, which would continue to provide 24-hour public counter services.
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which → say → services
The operational move by Victoria Police comes amid debate between the Labor government and Coalition opposition over police funding and resourcing, especially in Melbourne.
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move → come → Melbourne
Last month, Victorian Premier Ben Carroll accused the opposition of planning significant cuts to police funding if the Coalition wins the November 28 state election.
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Coalition → accuse → election
He said the recruitment of hundreds of former police officers as reservists would help address staff shortages.
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recruitment → say → shortages
"Victorians have told us they still want to see someone at the counter when they walk into their local station, and I'm listening," Mr Carroll said in August.
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Carroll → tell → August
That's why these new reservists will go straight to counters chosen by Victoria Police's intelligence."
Opposition police spokesman Brad Battin today said the closure of public counters in the inner city amounted to a broken promise from the premier.
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closure → go → premier
Ben Carroll looked Victorians in the eye and promised more police stations would be open for longer.
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stations → look → longer
Less than three weeks later, Labor is permanently closing four of them (counters} to the public," Mr Battin said.
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Battin → close → public
"Labor has failed to properly resource our police, failed to control crime and now they're shutting the doors of local police stations while Victorians feel less safe."
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Victorians → fail → stations
A Victorian government spokeswoman said operational decisions were made by Victoria Police, independently of the government.
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decisions → say → government
"Victorians have been very clear that they still want to see someone at the counter when they walk into their local station and we're listening," the government spokeswoman said.
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spokeswoman → want → station
"That’s why we've announced the recruitment of 400 police reservists to get station counters open and put more police back out on the beat.
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counters → ’ → beat
"Every reservist on the front counter is a sworn officer which frees up our frontline police to get out on the streets — responding to crime, not answering phones."
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which → swear → phones