Vic Police nabs IT head from ACT shared services

Victoria Police has appointed Michael Vanderheide, who has been heading up the ACT's shared services department InTACT, as its new executive director infrastructure.

A Victoria Police spokesperson could not say when Vanderheide would begin. A spokesperson for the ACT's Department of Territory Municipal Services (TAMS), however, said that Vanderheide was currently in the middle of a 12-week secondment in the Federal Department of Finance, and would take two weeks leave after that before starting at his new position.

Vanderheide will be filling the gap made after former CIO Valda Berzins left the Police last October as her department underwent investigation. A Board of Management had been managing the business and information technology services division in the interim to rectify some process issues.

If Victoria Police Commissioner Simon Overland has had his way, Vanderheide as executive director infrastructure will not likely have the same level of responsibility for IT that Berzins did. Overland said earlier this year that he agreed with a recommendation made by the commissioner for Law Enforcement Data Security that the responsibility for the force's nuts and bolts IT be split from that of maintaining information management and security.

A spokesperson for Victoria Police said only that Vanderheide's role would encompass Business Management Department and Business Information Technology Services (BITS).

Vanderheide's role at InTACT will be filled in an acting capacity by Anne Thomas, shared services' executive director HR services. The position is about to go out for applications, with the process likely to start this weekend, a spokesperson for TAMS said.