Corrections Vic Prison Officer SJQ case studies
Corrections Vic Prison Officer SJQ · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Corrections Victoria Prison Officer Situational Judgement Questionnaire (SJQ) is a written, scenario-based assessment used in recruitment for custodial officer roles in Victoria's adult prison system. Rather than testing legal knowledge or arithmetic, it presents realistic workplace situations - a prisoner refusing an instruction, a colleague cutting a corner, a shift handover that goes wrong - and asks you to judge which response is most and least effective. The Corrections Vic Prison Officer SJQ case studies are 5 cases and about 3,966 words.
1The foil package in the chair frame
You are a prison officer on day shift at a metropolitan men's prison. At 07:10, during routine cell searches while the occupants are at muster, you find a foil-wrapped package about the size of a matchbox wedged inside the hollow frame of a plastic chair in a shared cell.
880 words, about 4 min2Fifteen seconds on the floor
You have been a prison officer for 14 months. During a cell extraction at 19:20 you and three colleagues remove a 26-year-old prisoner who had barricaded his door.
874 words, about 4 min3The prisoner who asked you not to tell anyone
You are on the 14:00–22:00 shift in a 48-bed remand unit with one other officer. She is on her meal break at 20:40 when a 19-year-old first-time remand prisoner approaches you.
790 words, about 4 min4Hour thirteen, and one more ask
You are 90 minutes from the end of your fourth consecutive double shift; the prison has been on minimum staffing for two weeks after a gastro outbreak. At 20:50 a prisoner in your unit is found with self-inflicted cuts to both forearms; you and a colleague manage the first aid and the nurse attends.
624 words, about 3 min5One hundred and forty-nine
You are the most experienced officer on a 150-bed protection and remand unit. The sergeant is off site and the supervisor is a first-year officer on the other side of the prison.
798 words, about 4 min