OPI performed its oversight function by reviewing police policies and procedures and making recommendations to reform and improve these.
OPI also provided educational activities and programs to promote and support professional and ethical behaviour in Victoria Police members.
In early 2007, Don Stewart, a retired Supreme Court judge, called for a Royal Commission into Victorian police corruption.
[4] From the late 1970s commissions of inquiry throughout Australia identified that traditional law enforcement methods were inadequate to address sustained action against either organised crime or corruption.
It is important to note that OPI and other like agencies have non-traditional powers derived from a convergence of legal processes adopted from both inquisitorial and adversarial systems.
In September 2006, an investigation into physical assault by members of the Armed Offenders Squad (now disbanded) culminated in a public hearing.
A November 2007 hearing involved matters relating to misconduct in public office, propensity of police witnesses to lie on oath, information leaks and attempts to pervert the course of justice.
In addition to detecting, investigating and exposing serious misconduct or corruption, part of OPI's mandate was to understand the underlying causes of this sort of conduct.