When Victoria Police unveiled a plan for GPs to vouch for the mental and physical health of candidates, it was sold as a simple administrative fix to fast-track recruitment.

But getting GPs to decide whether someone was mentally and physically capable of serving as a police officer was always going to raise a few red flags, especially when they were never consulted over the plan, which was introduced last July.

As Victorian RACGP president Dr Anita Munoz pointed out, GPs were being asked to decide in a single appointment whether a patient was fit for work that could be dangerous, violent and involve carrying a firearm.

“There is a medicolegal risk involved in saying somebody is fit to serve in the police force, where people engage in things such as high-speed vehicle pursuit, carry weapons and are dealing with dangerous elements in the community that can involve violence,” she said.