Graham Ashton, regarded as one of Australia's most experienced counter-terror police officers, was unveiled on Monday as the state's new Chief Commissioner.

Mr Ashton replaces Ken Lay, who retired from the force last December.

Flanked by Premier Daniel Andrews, Police Minister Wade Noonan, and Acting Chief Commissioner Tim Cartwright at the Victoria Police headquarters, Mr Ashton described himself as a traditionalist, who appreciated the rich history of Victoria Police.

However, he said he also understood the need to embrace new technology and empower officers to work more efficiently, including by implementing some of the measures championed in Mr Lay's aspirational Blue Paper.

Mr Ashton, a former Victoria Police deputy commissioner serving under Mr Lay and former chief commissioner Simon Overland, left that post last December to rejoin the Australian Federal Police as deputy commissioner.

While previously at the AFP, he had been a joint lead of the Bali bombing investigation and the head of the AFP counter-terrorism unit.

Before Mr Ashton starts the job on July 1, he will receive counter-terrorism briefings in Europe as part of his role with the AFP.

"The current conflict, the amount of people involved in it, the way that young people are attracted to the movement, the IS (Islamic State) movement particularly, are situations that are worsening around the world, and they're worsening here," Mr Ashton said.

"We've got to make sure that we rise to that challenge by making sure that our community engagement is strong, making sure our ability to respond is strong.

"Victoria Police, particularly in the last 12 months, has done a great job in getting ahead of issues, resolving matters in a proactive, preventive way, that's prevented events from occurring, but that's no insurance, no guarantee, that that's going to be the case in the future."

Mr Andrews thanked Mr Cartwright, who plans to retire, for acting in the role.

Mr Andrews described Mr Ashton as having the "rarest of abilities"; the ability to foresee issues before they arise.

"Graham Ashton brings to this role, and to his entire policing career, a steadiness of leadership style, a wealth of experience, and a strength of character that will see Victoria Police go from strength to strength."

Mr Ashton mentioned the scourge of ice and a crackdown on family violence among his priorities, but also outlined some less obvious targets: a nationally consistent legislative approach to outlaw bikie gangs and a desire to promptly improve the force's antiquated information technology.

He was less forthright about police numbers, which are likely to be drawn into focus during enterprise bargaining negotiations with the Police Association this year, saying he planned to improve the tools available to officers and make changes to governance within the force to boost capacity.

Mr Ashton said he had enormous respect for union secretary Ron Iddles and had shared a good working relationship with him.

"He's a fantastic Victorian . . . and typifies the sort of people that Victoria Police produces: hard-working, committed, people that make sacrifices day in, day out, for the community."

Senior Sergeant Iddles said he had congratulated Mr Ashton in a text message on Monday and hoped to meet him within the next week to discuss "urgent" matters.

Among those was improved information technology, security of police stations and increased police numbers to meet new safety guidelines for members that have been introduced in response to heightened terrorism concerns.

"We look forward to having a strong and constructive working relationship with Graham," Senior Sergeant Iddles said.

"He comes with a strong investigative background, he's got a good grasp of counter-terrorism and organised crime. Having been an assistant commissioner and deputy commissioner, he understands the issues and the culture, so I think his appointment will be accepted by the members."

Mr Noonan said there had been a strong field of candidates, which was believed to have included assistant and deputy commissioners from across Australia and high-ranking police from overseas.

Some of the officers linked to the top job, including Acting Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton, and Deputy Commissioner Lucinda Nolan, were at the press conference announcing the appointment on Monday.