Victoria's police chief and union boss are stepping up to the challenge of tackling mental illness within the force.
Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton and Police Association Secretary Wayne Gatt on Monday started a walk from opposite sides of the state. They aim to cover a combined 1000km and raise $500,000 for the Retired Peer Support Officer program.
Mr Ashton started his section from Mallacoota and Mr Gatt started from Mildura and so far have raised $450,000.
"Our members, they walk into traumatic incidents every day, they don't know if they're going to walk out of those situations at times and sadly sometimes they walk out with mental injuries and scars," Mr Gatt said.
"What they need to know is that they're never walking alone, the Police Association, Victoria Police, we'll walk with them every step of the way."
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The Retired Peer Support Officer program is run by 60 retired police volunteers who help about 700 mostly former officers experiencing mental health issues.
Mr Ashton took leave late last year after becoming rundown physically and mentally.
The police leaders and their teams will walk over three weeks before meeting at Wangaratta on October 23.
During the walk, Mr Ashton and Mr Gatt will visit police stations and take part in local events.
"About two years ago now, we thought about the need to do something important for our veteran police officers ... in relation to their welfare particularly their mental health," Mr Ashton said on Monday.
"We've been trying to invest heavily in supporting police mental health since 2015 and we have been doing that in relation to providing in-service support, but increasingly we felt that our past serving members have been left out of that."
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