Australian Federal Police | |
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Abbreviation | AFP |
Agency overview | |
Formed | 1979 |
Preceding agencies |
|
Employees | 7,077 (2022–2023) [1] |
Volunteers | Small numbers for non-operations related activity. |
Annual budget | A$1.73 billion (2022–2023) [1] |
Legal personality | Police force |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Federal agency | Australia |
Operations jurisdiction | Australia |
Governing body | Government of Australia |
Constituting instrument | |
General nature | |
Operational structure | |
Headquarters | Edmund Barton Building, Canberra |
Minister responsible | |
Agency executive |
|
Functions | 11
|
Offices | 9
|
Website | |
www | |
The Australian Federal Police, while a federal agency, provides policing to dependent Australian (on and offshore) Commonwealth Territories. |
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. The AFP is an independent agency of the Attorney-General's Department and is responsible to the Attorney-General and accountable to the Parliament of Australia. [2] As of October 2019 [update] the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police is Reece Kershaw, formerly the Northern Territory Police Commissioner. [3] [4]
The AFP has a focus on preventing, investigating and disrupting transnational, serious, complex and organised crime including terrorism and violent extremism, cybercrime, child exploitation, drug smuggling, and human trafficking. The AFP is also responsible for delivering community policing in the Australian Capital Territory through ACT Policing and to other dependent territories, providing protective security in major airports and close protection for dignitaries including the prime minister of Australia and foreign diplomatic missions, delivering law enforcement training for Asia-Pacific partner agencies, acting as Australia's international law enforcement and policing representative, and contributing to United Nations peacekeeping around the world. The AFP is also a member of the National Intelligence Community and works closely with the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Border Force, and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.
The Australian Federal Police was formed on 19 October 1979 under the Australian Federal Police Act 1979 [5] after the merging of the former Commonwealth Police and the Australian Capital Territory Police. This followed a review of Australia's anti-terrorism capacity by Sir Robert Mark, former commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in the UK, which was commissioned by the Fraser government following the 1978 Hilton bombing. In November 1979, the Federal Narcotics Bureau was transferred to the new agency. [6] In 1984 the protective service component of the AFP was separated forming the Australian Protective Service under the administrative service and later governed by Attorney-General's Department; that agency was transferred back to the AFP in 2004 and is now known as Australian Federal Police Specialist Protective Command or as "Uniform Protection" internally.
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement, a joint committee of members of the Australian House and Senate, has responsibility for oversight of the AFP and the Australian Crime Commission. [7]
Separately, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is charged with investigating systemic corruption in the AFP and other commonwealth agencies. [8]
The AFP's role is to enforce Australian criminal law, contribute to combating complex, transnational, serious and organised crime impacting Australia's national security and to protect Commonwealth interests from criminal activity in Australia and overseas.
The AFP is responsible to The Attorney-General's Department. Key priorities of the AFP are set by the Attorney-General, through a "ministerial direction" issued under the Australian Federal Police Act 1979. [9] Areas of operational emphasis include:
Continued responsibilities include providing:
Federal agents are based in each Australian state and territory, internationally and form the largest component of the AFP staff, federal agents chiefly perform criminal investigative duties.
Current areas of focus for the AFP:
The AFP hosts a National Missing Persons Coordination Unit and the Australian Interpol National Central Bureau.
In addition to its federal role, the AFP provides policing services to the Australian Capital Territory and the external territories, including Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Norfolk Island, and Jervis Bay Territory. [10]
The AFP Specialist Protective Command provides physical protection for the Australian government at key locations throughout Australia and internationally. Uniform protection officers (identified as Protective Service Officers or PSOs) are firearms and defensive tactics trained, and perform duties which include armed escorts, bomb appraisals, bomb detection canines, visitor control, static guarding, alarm monitoring and response, mobile, foot and bicycle patrols, maintain civil order, security consultancy services, counter-terrorism first response at many Commonwealth establishments. Protective Service Officers have powers under Section 14 of the AFP Act 1979 to stop, request identification, search and arrest within their jurisdiction. Uniform protection officers undertake an essential role in protecting Australia's critical infrastructure and assist in providing protection for Australian high office holders, diplomatic, consular personnel and other foreign nationals.
Specialist Protective Command officers providing an armed uniform capability are located at federal establishments including Parliament House in Canberra; the residences of the prime minister and governor-general; foreign embassies and consulates in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth; the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, joint defence facilities such as the Australian Defence Force Headquarters in Canberra, Holsworthy Barracks, Garden Island Naval Base, Victoria Barracks, the Pine Gap US defence installation, and sensitive covert locations in Australia and internationally.
Aviation Uniform Police (AUP) are the primary law enforcement agency responsible for aviation security at the nine major Australian airports; Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Cairns, Gold Coast and Perth. [11] On 6 December 2019 the AFP announced that the Protective Operations Response Team (PORT) members located at the nine designated Australian airports will carry the Daniel Defense Mk.18 Short Barreled Rifle. [12] The increase in AFP aviation protection capability was part of the Aviation Security Enhancement Program (ASEP), the short barreled firearms specifically for the purpose of delivering a Counter Terrorist First Response (CTFR) role. [13]
Since its inception, the AFP has had a long tradition of involvement in international peacekeeping, policing and capacity development. International Deployment Group (IDG) is an AFP portfolio that has increased rapidly in a short time since its inception in 2004. Since 1964, Australia has contributed police officers to the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus. AFP officers have also previously served with the United Nations in East Timor (Timor-Leste) and South Sudan.
In recent years, Australian government efforts to assist neighbouring and remote countries with institutional capacity building has led to AFP deployments to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands (Under the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands), Timor-Leste (Under the Timor-Leste Police Development Program TLPDP), Nauru, Tonga, Vanuatu, Afghanistan, Samoa and Vanuatu. Previous peacekeeping missions have included Haiti, Mozambique, Thailand, Namibia, and Somalia.
IDG uses the Specialist Response Group for particular medium and high risk planned operations or emergency incidents in addition to assisting with capacity building and force protection operations.
The AFP Ceremonial and Protocol Team conducts and participates in a variety of police and community functions and ceremonies.
Ceremonial events include the annual National Police Remembrance Day Service at the National Police Memorial in Canberra on 29 September, medal presentations, parades, police funerals, memorial services, official opening of police stations and policing facilities, AFP pipes and drums concerts, inauguration events and public relations events. The Ceremonial Team coordinates the AFP Ceremonial and Protocol Officer (CAPO) Network and the AFP Pipes and Drums to perform ceremonial duties at these functions and ceremonies.
Formerly the Ceremonial team also included the AFP Ceremonial Mounted Cadre. The AFP Ceremonial Mounted Cadre was raised on 29 September 2006 at the dedication of the National Police Memorial. The ceremonial uniform comprises linkages to former mounted policing units of the AFP's predecessor organisations, namely the Commonwealth Police and the Peace Officer guard, as well as mounted policing units from the NSW Police Force which patrolled the geographic area of the ACT. The Mounted Cadre was disbanded shortly after their final appearance at the opening of the AFP's new Headquarters in Barton on 7 April 2011. [14]
The AFP Ceremonial and Protocol team currently provide drill instructor accreditation for both the AFP and the NSW Police Force, and ceremonial and protocol officer accreditation for all of Australia's policing jurisdictions.
The AFP has an international network to assist with inquiries and liaison with police agencies around the world. The AFP represents Australian state/territory police agencies internationally. AFP's International Liaison Officer Network has 85 AFP appointees in 30 countries around the world. AFP International Liaison Officers are the Australian Government's law enforcement representatives overseas. [15]
The Joint Counter Terrorism Teams (JCTTs) in each state and territory jurisdiction consist of AFP, state and territory police, and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation officers. JCTTs conduct investigations to prevent and disrupt terrorism and violent extremism. The JCTT model can be seen as the Australian version of the United States' Joint Terrorism Task Force, Canada's Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams and the United Kingdom's National Counter Terrorism Policing Network. [16]
The National Disruption Group (NDG) is an AFP-led interagency team which consolidates the capabilities of participating agencies to prevent, disrupt and prosecute Australian nationals who travel or intend to travel offshore to engage in hostilities and/or undertake terrorism training and support to terrorist entities. The NDG brings together the AFP and its partner agencies to coordinate operational disruption activities nationally and internationally with the aim of countering the enduring threat posed by foreign fighters. [17] [18]
The Australian Federal Police College in Barton, A.C.T. is the training facility for the force. [19]
The highest ranked AFP officer is the commissioner, appointed under Section 17 of the Australian Federal Police Act 1979.
Commissioner of Australian Federal Police | |
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since 2 October 2019 | |
The Attorney-General's Department | |
Member of | Attorney General Portfolio Board |
Reports to | Attorney General |
Residence | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory |
Seat | Edmund Barton Building |
Nominator | Attorney General |
Appointer | Governor-General |
Term length | 7 years, renewable at the Governor-General's pleasure. [20] |
Constituting instrument | Australian Federal Police Act 1979 |
Precursor | Commissioner of the Commonwealth Police |
Inaugural holder | Colin Woods |
Formation | 1 August 1979 |
Salary | A$720,480 [21] |
Rank | Name | Post-nominals | Term began | Term ended | Time in appointment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Commissioner of the AFP | ||||||
Commissioner | Sir Colin Woods | KCVO , CBE , QPM | 1 August 1979 | 1 January 1982 | 2 years, 74 days | |
Commissioner (Major General) | Ronald Grey | AO , DSO | 1 January 1982 | 30 November 1988 | 6 years, 334 days | |
Commissioner | Peter McAulay | AO , QPM | 30 November 1988 | 1 June 1994 | 5 years, 183 days | |
Commissioner | Michael Palmer | AO , APM | 1 June 1994 | 2 April 2001 | 6 years, 335 days | |
Commissioner | Mick Keelty | AO , APM | 2 April 2001 | 2 September 2009 | 8 years, 123 days | |
Commissioner | Tony Negus | APM | 7 September 2009 | 30 September 2014 | 5 years, 23 days | |
Commissioner | Andrew Colvin | APM , OAM | 30 September 2014 | 1 October 2019 | 5 years, 0 days | |
Commissioner | Reece Kershaw | APM | 2 October 2019 | Incumbent | 5 years, 23 days |
AFP members performing duties in ACT Policing, External Territories, Aviation, International Deployment Group (mission component) use uniform and community policing ranks. All other members use the title Federal Agent. Where applicable qualified members are also entitled to use Detective designation.
AFP Commissioner's Order 1 (Administration) states that every AFP Member holds a rank (as detailed below), with the corresponding title and role adopted. [22]
Uniform and Community Policing Rank/Title | Broadband Rank | Role | National Operations Title |
---|---|---|---|
Constable | Constable | Team Member | Team Member, Federal Agent |
First Class Constable | |||
Senior Constable | |||
Leading Senior Constable | |||
Sergeant | Sergeant | Team Leader | Team Leader, Federal Agent |
Inspector | Inspector | Officer In Charge | Officer In Charge, Federal Agent |
Superintendent | Superintendent | Coordinator | Coordinator, Federal Agent |
Commander | Commander | Manager | Manager, Commander |
Assistant Commissioner | Assistant Commissioner | National Manager | National Manager, Assistant Commissioner |
Deputy Commissioner | Deputy Commissioner | Deputy Commissioner | Deputy Commissioner |
Commissioner | Commissioner | Commissioner | Commissioner |
First Class Constable is a reflection of four years of service. Senior Constable is a minimum of six years service. Leading Senior Constable is a reflection of at least 12–15 years of service. From there, promotion to Sergeant etc. is by application/merit and so on.
On 2 July 2007, Muhamed Haneef was arrested and held by the AFP and Border officers for terror-related incidents, as he was leaving the country. It was the longest detention without charge under recent anti-terror laws and was found to be unjustified. He received an apology and compensation after this. [23]
In October 2006 a Cairns jury convicted pilot Frederic Arthur Martens under sex tourism laws of having intercourse with a 14-year-old girl in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. However, Martens was not in Port Moresby at the time, and flight records could prove this. The AFP refused to retrieve those records despite numerous requests, and Martins could not retrieve them as he was in jail. When the records were eventually retrieved by Martens' partner the convictions were quashed, with strong criticism of the AFP by Justice Chesterman. The AFP also froze all of Marten's funds while he was in custody, which prevented treatment for his daughter in Port Moresby, who died as a result. [24]
The AFP were contacted by a member of the Bali Nine drug courier gang's father, and they said they would keep a watch on him. They could not stop them travelling to Indonesia to smuggle drugs. Instead, they contacted the Indonesian police which led to their arrest in Indonesia rather than when returning to Australia. The leaders of the gang, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed on 29 April 2015. [25] The others are still serving prison sentences.
Over 200 heavily armed police conducted raids at 3:00 am at various houses in Victoria on 19 April 2015, and then held Harun Causevic on a Preventative Detention Order (PDO), before charging him with terrorist offences. [26] Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said this was the first time a PDO had been used, and validated their importance. [27]
However, after Causevic spent three months in jail awaiting trial the federal police decided to drop the terrorism charges. [28] Causevic's defence lawyer, Rob Stary, said there was never any real evidence against Causevic, and that this eroded confidence in the authorities. He was also critical of the earlier "grandstanding" of Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Premier Daniel Andrews. [29]
On 4 June 2019 the AFP conducted a raid on the home of News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst, looking for information connected to a story she had written a few years earlier about new laws that would give the security forces new powers for surveillance over Australian citizens. [30] Radio host Ben Fordham also claimed that he was under investigation for some of his reporting. [31]
The next day the police raided the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) over a story about alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. [32] The search warrant allowed the police to "add, copy, delete or alter" any files they found on the computers. [33]
The incidents caused an outcry of condemnation from international media outlets, including the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and The New York Times . [34] However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that "it never troubles me that our laws are being upheld". [30] The AFP have not ruled out the possibility that reporters may also be charged in relation to the alleged offences being investigated. [35]
On 15 April 2020, the High Court of Australia ruled that the warrant used in the Smethurst raid was invalid. [36]
The Australian Federal Police withheld evidence provided by ACT Policing investigators to ACT prosecutors in 2021 Australian Parliament House sexual misconduct allegations to an inquiry into the handling of the matter due to laws preventing the agency from disclosing certain information. This led to accusations the agency was refusing to hand over the evidence. [37] [38] The inquiry was created in the wake of accusations of mishandling made by both the ACT's Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold, and the Australian Federal Police against each other. [39] [40]
The AFP changed rules around how firearms are checked out after a series of suicides in their offices, these changes were criticised by the Australian Federal Police Association (AFPA) as a quick fix. [41] [42] The AFP has been criticised for low salaries, with accusations of having some of the lowest salaries of any police agency in Australia and some members being forced to find further employment. [43] [44] The AFPA has claimed that the AFP had become the lowest paid law enforcement agency in Australia and is losing dozens of officers to other agencies each month. [45]
The AFP was criticised for an operation in which it targeted a young boy with autism spectrum disorder who had developed a fixation on a terrorist organisation. The boy's parent reported their concerns to authorities, leading to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Victoria Police, and AFP joint counter-terrorism team (JCTT) to begin Operation Bourglinster. Officers of the JCTT were accused of encouraging the boy's ideation with terrorism, leading to a Victorian court to impose a permanent stay on charges. [46]
The AFP has appeared in several fictional television series and documentaries. The AFP was the focus of a documentary series called AFP, which followed AFP operations and training in Australia and internationally. AFP members have also appeared in other documentary series such as Border Security: Australia's Front Line and the Keeping Australia Safe miniseries.
The AFP is portrayed in the true crime-drama series Underbelly and is also portrayed in the military action series NCIS: Sydney along with the United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is the domestic intelligence and national security agency of the Commonwealth of Australia, responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically motivated violence, terrorism and attacks on the national defence system. ASIO is a primary entity of the Australian Intelligence Community.
Law enforcement in Australia is one of the three major components of the country's justice system, along with courts and corrections. Law enforcement officers are employed by all three levels of government – federal, state/territory, and local.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) is a law enforcement agency established by the Australian federal government on 1 July 2016, following the merger of the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) and CrimTrac. It has specialist investigative capabilities and delivers and maintains national information sharing systems. ACIC is part of the National Intelligence Community.
The Federal Protective Service (FPS) is a federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It is also "the federal agency charged with protecting and delivering integrated law enforcement and security services to facilities owned or leased by the General Services Administration (GSA)"—over 9,000 buildings—and their occupants.
Michael Joseph Keelty is a retired Australian Police Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police from 2001 to 2009. He was also the inaugural chairperson of the Australian Crime Commission, now known as the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.
The Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA) is a federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Defense charged with protecting and safeguarding the occupants, visitors, and infrastructure of The Pentagon, the Mark Center Building, the Defense Health Agency headquarters, the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and other assigned DoD-occupied leased facilities within the National Capitol Region. As of 2004, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency employed 482 police officers.
The Commonwealth Police (COMPOL) was the federal law enforcement agency in Australia between 1917 and 1979. A federal police force was first established in 1917, and operated under different names and in some periods as multiple organisations. In late 1979, the Commonwealth Police and Australian Capital Territory Police were merged to form the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
The Australian Protective Service (APS) was an Australian Commonwealth law enforcement agency which existed between October 1984 and June 2004. The APS was created by the separation of the Uniformed Protective Service component of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) into a new agency based upon recommendations contained in the Stewart Royal Commission of Inquiry into Drug Trafficking. It was initially responsible for protecting personnel and property of the Australian government; foreign diplomatic missions in both Australia and overseas, Internationally Protected Persons (IPPs); and the provision of custodial services at immigration detention centres. The APS provided a uniformed protection presence at most sensitive government establishments through either a permanent guarding presence or mobile patrol and alarm response function.
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The Australian Intelligence Community (AIC) and the National Intelligence Community (NIC) or National Security Community of the Australian Government are the collectives of statutory intelligence agencies, policy departments, and other government agencies concerned with protecting and advancing the national security and national interests of the Commonwealth of Australia. The intelligence and security agencies of the Australian Government have evolved since the Second World War and the Cold War and saw transformation and expansion during the Global War on Terrorism with military deployments in Afghanistan, Iraq and against ISIS in Syria. Key international and national security issues for the Australian Intelligence Community include terrorism and violent extremism, cybersecurity, transnational crime, the rise of China, and Pacific regional security.
The Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany is the federal investigative police agency of Germany, directly subordinated to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. It is headquartered in Wiesbaden, Hesse, and maintains major branch offices in Berlin and Meckenheim near Bonn. It has been headed by Holger Münch since December 2014.
The British Columbia Sheriff Service (BCSS) is a provincial law enforcement agency overseen by the Ministry of the Attorney General in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Founded in 1857, it is the oldest law enforcement agency in the province. Sheriffs are provincial peace officers appointed under the BC Sheriff Act and BC Police Act with authority to enforce all relevant federal and provincial acts, including the criminal code throughout British Columbia while in the lawful execution of their duties.
In many countries, particularly those with a federal system of government, there may be several law enforcement agencies, police or police-like organizations, each serving different levels of government and enforcing different subsets of the applicable law.
The federal government of the United States empowers a wide range of federal law enforcement agencies to maintain law and public order related to matters affecting the country as a whole.
A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement agency is the police, but various other forms exist as well, including agencies that focus on specific legal violation, or are organized and overseen by certain authorities. They typically have various powers and legal rights to allow them to perform their duties, such as the power of arrest and the use of force.
The Australian Border Force (ABF) is a federal law enforcement agency, part of the Department of Home Affairs, responsible for offshore and onshore border enforcement, investigations, compliance, detention operations and customs services in Australia. Through the ABF's Marine Unit, the ABF performs Coast Guard and marine law enforcement duties and is a component of the Maritime Border Command. The ABF is also part of the National Intelligence Community and is an active member of the World Customs Organization.
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