After years of agitation, West Australian policemen will soon be allowed to be bearded while on duty, albeit under strict conditions

From March 1, some facial hair will be acceptable for the boys in blue.

But they will have to grow their beards in their own time, with the new rules stipulating that the in-between stage must take place when officers are on three weeks' leave.

Here are the rules: Beard must be full face with moustache.

Beard must be full face with moustache. Must be grown while on leave or absent (three weeks' growth).

Must be grown while on leave or absent (three weeks' growth). Neat, clean, close-trimmed with a consistent level of growth. No less than 8mm in thickness and no greater than 20mm.

Neat, clean, close-trimmed with a consistent level of growth. No less than 8mm in thickness and no greater than 20mm. Area around cheeks/neck will be closely shaven.

Area around cheeks/neck will be closely shaven. No goatees, excessive sideburns or small patches below bottom lip (soul patch, royale or mouche).

No goatees, excessive sideburns or small patches below bottom lip (soul patch, royale or mouche). No sculptured or patterned beards extreme in style or colour.

No sculptured or patterned beards extreme in style or colour. No beard allowed if officer attached to specialist team that requires use of gas mask.

Employment lawyer Nicole Young told ABC Radio Perth the police service was well within its rights to set such rules.

"Appearance generally is not a protected attribute that is protected by discrimination laws," Ms Young said.

"They are saying three weeks' of growth because they want thickness there and that is understandable, but not many men would take three weeks to grow eight millimetres.

"It does seem a bit onerous and you would have to be very committed to using three weeks of your annual leave to grow your beard."

Beard, tattoo bans are legal

Until now, only Sikh police officers have been exempt from the beard ban, as growing a beard is a requirement of their religion.

In 2012 Victoria Police implemented a beard ban.

Three years later a number of officers challenged the ruling, taking it all the way to the Supreme Court, but were ultimately unsuccessful.

"It doesn't surprise me that the Victorian Supreme Court said it's not discriminatory, but I am also interested in seeing that the WA Police have decided to let the boys in blue grow a beard," Ms Young said.

"I think that is very progressive of them."

Victoria Police Leading Senior Constable Michael Kuyken went all the way to the Supreme Court to try and keep his goatee. ( AAP: Julian Smith )

One ABC listener said he had his application to join WA Police knocked back because he had a tattoo of a skull, which he was told was "death-themed" and may scare the public.

Ms Young said this decision did not break any discrimination laws.

"Rules against hair colour, piercing, tattooing — if a business wants to have a rule about how you will look at work, it's usually not discriminatory unless it's based on a religious belief," she said.

"Employers are allowed to have rules about who they want working for them and how they are going to look.

"Obviously the police did it out of concern, they are saying, for the public.

"But it could just be the personal preference of an employer not to like death-themed tattoos."

Bosses can dictate appearance

An employer can even have a policy on baldness or weight.

"Being overweight is not a protected attribute and there have been quite a few cases where that has been tested," Ms Young said.

"To be sacked for being overweight is certainly an unfair dismissal, but being told that you need to lose weight is not discriminatory.

"Even if you are bald that is not protected.

"You could be not hired because you are bald, and an employer could decide to only hire bald people."

Listeners to ABC Radio Perth were broadly in favour of WA Police officers being allowed to grow beards.

"It's not their looks that count, it's their ability, so be it as it may, if they have neat and attractive facial hair, let them enjoy it." — Wendy

"I agree that WA Police officers should be allowed to wear beards, most other policing jurisdictions in Australia allow beards. Just because they have a beard doesn't mean they can't do their job." — Brian

But others had safety concerns.