NCJ Number
231829
Date Published
June 2009
Length
268 pages
Annotation
This Federal Audit of Policing in Australia extends beyond an assessment of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to encompass the Commonwealth's total engagement in policing and the increasing coordination and interdependence of policing across the Australian Federation and internationally.
Abstract
The central conclusion of the Audit is that the national interest in policing has changed. In the first century of the Federation, the Commonwealth had a minor role in policing, and cooperation among the States and Territories in policing lagged behind many other areas of the Federation. The Audit shows that currently policing is recognized as a central component of national security and a major contributor to the security and development of the region and internationally. Cooperation among the Commonwealth, States, and Territories is now viewed as essential to providing an effective and efficient response to terrorism, serious crime, and organized crime. This has required increased funding of policing at the Commonwealth level, but all the major players recognize that this is a work in progress. At the Commonwealth level and in the major structures for cooperation across the Federation there is much to be done. This Audit reviews and offers recommendations for connecting policing across the Federation; national security planning at the Commonwealth level; the AFP budget and governance; the future strategy for AFP international deployments; counterterrorism strategies, particularly in the field of aviation; challenges in addressing serious and organized crime; and the role of community policing in the face of contemporary security threats. Thirteen appendixes provide more detailed analyses of specific issues.