Lisa Hardeman asked to go back to operational duties after her 12-month secondment to a KPMG management program for police executives.
She knew what she was getting herself in for when Hume was put forward as her next inspector’s beat.
Her first week last month was consumed by the Mickleham-Kilmore fires, an emergency far removed from her previous experiences at Port Phillip, where the St Kilda Festival, the Grand Prix and New Year’s Eve were the main events on the annual calendar.
At Hume, Inspector Hardeman notes, the multicultural nature of communities makes it quite different from most other places she’s been. Then there’s the airport, a major crime hotspot requiring close working relations with the Federal Police.
Engaging with young people in an area with three times the national unemployment rate for their age group, and responding fast to domestic violence are priorities. “It’s a really busy place to work,” Inspector Hardeman said. “It’s us, Frankston and Dandenong with the most call-outs.”
She was a senior sergeant at Melton for three years before rising through the ranks and is not a complete stranger to the urban fringe and growth area issues that distinguish Melbourne’s west and north from much of the suburban sprawl of the east and south.
Inspector Hardeman is also a western suburbs girl born and bred, and an ardent Western Bulldogs fan who grew up in Yarraville and went to the former Footscray high school. Football comes up early in her first interview in the new job. She’s been a state player, captain, coach and president at the Victorian Women’s Football League.
Inspector Hardeman’s name holds a clue to the depths of her passion for Aussie rules.
The VWFL premier division medal for best on the ground in the grand final is called the Lisa Hardeman medal, while the premiership trophy is called the Hampson-Hardeman Cup, recognising Inspector Hardeman’s friend and co-player, Barb Hampson, and herself as pioneers of Australian football for women.
