New Realities: National Policing in the 21 st Century Federal Audit of Police Capabilities Independent Reviewer – Roger Beale AO 30 June 2009 Report to Minister for Home Affairs, The Hon Brendan O’Connor MP The Allen Consulting Group Pty Ltd ACN 007 061 930, ABN 52 007 061 930 Melbourne Level 9, 60 Collins St Melbourne VIC 3000 Telephone: (61 -3) 8650 6000 Facsimile: (61 -3) 9654 6363 Sydney Level 12, 210 George St Sydney NSW 2000 Telephone: (61 -2) 8272 5100 Facsimile: (61 -2) 9247 245 5 Canberra Empire Chambers, Level 2, 1 -13 University Ave Canberra ACT 2600 GPO Box 418, Canberra ACT 2601 Telephone: (61 -2) 6204 6500 Facsimile: (61 -2) 6230 0149 Perth Level 21, 44 St George’s Tce Perth WA 6000 Telephone: (61 -8) 6211 0900 Facsimile: (61 -8) 9221 9922 Online Email: [email protected] Website: www.allenconsult.com.au Disclaimer: While the Allen Consulting Group endeavours to provide reliable analysis and believes the material it presents is accurate, it will not be liable for any cla im by any party acting on such information. © The Allen Consulting Group 2009 The Allen Consulting Group ii Acknowledgments I wish to acknowledge the excellent support I have received from the Audit Team, which was provided by the AFP and the Attorney -General’s Department. The Team members were: AFP Commander Peter Wood Federal Agent Dennis Ryan Federal Agent David MacGregor Jane West Amy Fulton Rachel White Attorney -General's Department Shannon Cuthbertson Lani Gibbins. I would particularly like to record my gratitude for the secr etarial services provided by Angie Blake of the AFP. I would also like to thank the Secretary of the Attorney -General’s Department, Roger Wilkins AO and the Commissioner of the AFP Mick Keelty APM for the time and support they gave me. Similarly the chief officers of each of the State and Territory police forces were also helpful and unstinting in the time they made available. Of course, none of the above are to blame for any errors of fact or judgement – the author retains that responsibility. The Allen Consulting Group iii Contents Pa rt 1 Executive Summary 2 Findings and Recommendations 14 Chapter 1 Introdu ction 41 Chapter 2 Future Scan 51 Chapter 3 Connecting Policing 73 Chapter 4 Governance & Capability 98 Chapter 5 Budgets & Programs 115 Chapter 6 The International Deployment Group 134 Chapter 7 Security 155 Chapter 8 Serious Crime 194 Chapter 9 Community Policin g 216 Chapter 10 AFP Internal Systems 223 The Allen Consulting Group iv Part 2 Appendix 1 Defendants dealt with by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in 2007 -08 235 Appendix 2 Co mparative average net tax payable – Wickenby clients compared to Australians in the top 4% taxable income range 237 Appendix 3 Correspondence with ANZPAA 238 Appendix 4 Key Legislative Provisions 241 Appendix 5 Ministerial Direction 243 Appendix 6 AFP Organisational Chart 245 Appendix 7 Governance of the United Kingdom Serious and Organised Crime Agency 246 Appendix 8 Current AFP Missions 248 Appendix 9 Police Capacity -Building in Other Jurisdictions 256 Appendix 10 Components of the Existing Unified Policing Model 259 Appendix 11 Aviation Staffing Level at 11 Major Airports 260 Appendix 12 Comparative Costs of Seconded Members, Per Police Officer, Across the Unified Policing Model by Jurisdiction 261 Appendix 13 Consultation List 262 The Allen Consulting Group v F EDERAL A UDIT OF P OLICE C APABILITIES Part 1 Executive Summary Findings and Recommendations The Allen Consulting Group 1 F EDERAL A UDIT OF P OLICE C APABILITIES Executive Summary Introduction The world has changed dramatically over the last twenty years. For Australian policing, many of those changes were crystallised in six short years between 1999 and 2005. These remarkable years saw the United Nations (UN) INTERFET operation commence in East Timor, the terrible events of September 11 2001, the two Bali bombings, the Marriott and Jakarta Emb assy bombings, the Afghanistan and Iraq interventions and the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands. Each had, or led to, an important Australian policing component. Since then Australia has seen massive and complex domestic terrorism investigatio ns and trials – its first since those which flowed from the 1979 Hilton bombing which led to the establishment of the AFP. The growth in the importance of the internet for the economy, and society, was underscored by the Millenium Bug concern of the year 2000 and then underlined by the dot com share market crash of 2001. The first E-security National Agenda was introduced in 2001. The first AFP arrests under new Commonwealth law for child pornography conveyed over the internet took place in 2005. The UN Co nvention Against Transnational Organized Crime came into force in the year 2000. In 2003 the Australian government announced a major initiative on human trafficking and people smuggling. In 2004 Australia ratified these UN instruments aimed at criminalisin g offences committed by organised criminal groups, combating money laundering and facilitating international cooperation in the fight against transnational organised crime. Also in 2004 Australian, Fijian and New Zealand police combined in an operation tha t led to the identification and raiding of the biggest illegal drug factory ever discovered in the Southern Hemisphere. The bulk of its product was likely destined for Australian and New Zealand streets. The year 2001 saw the collapse of HIH, one of Austra lia’s largest corporate failures, at considerable cost to thousands of ordinary Australians. By 2005 concerns were being expressed about the legality of the behaviour of the Australian Wheat Board in relation to the payment of bribes to the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein. Both of these events would in time lead to extensive criminal inquiries. More importantly they symbolised the extent to which everyday Australians are now exposed through their share ownership and superannuation investments to corporate wr ongdoing, and to the care that Australian companies must take to obey the law in their international dealings. These six remarkable years underlined for policing that the global changes accelerating over the previous two decades brought with them very sign ificant local Australian consequences. These changes impacted all levels of policing – but particularly national policing. They demanded new approaches by the Commonwealth, and across the Federation, as Commonwealth, State and Territory law enforcement age ncies responded. The Allen Consulting Group 2 F EDERAL A UDIT OF P OLICE C APABILITIES At the epicentre of these changes was the Australian Federal Police (AFP). It responded in a remarkably short time to develop highly effective abilities in counter terrorism, a capability to provide widely praised international deployments to support the restoration of law and order and bolster civil governance, to take a firm lead on the policing of Australia’s airports and protection of aviation, and integrate protection services for Australia’s leaders and key institutions, while growing its international network and maintaining its role in serious crime and community policing. The AFP is acknowledged to have made an important contribution to the strengthening of ties between Australia and Indonesia after the events in East Timor when tra ditional close diplomatic and military relationships were strained. There have been some controversies and criticisms, and it is clear that the pace of change has outstripped the capacity of some internal systems, but it has been an overwhelmingly successf ul transition from the fringe to the centre of government. For most of this period Commissioner Mick Keelty, APM, led the AFP. Background The Minister for Home Affairs, Bob Debus, announced the appointment of Roger Beale AO, Senior Associate, Allen Consult ing Group to conduct a Federal Audit of Police Capabilities in line with the Government’s election commitment on 28 January 2009. Project objectives The Terms of Reference for the review were as follows: “Recognising that the Australian Federal Police, as the Australian Government’s primary law enforcement agency, has been required in recent years to meet increasing demands encompassing complex whole -of -government, national and international issues, the Government made an election commitment to conduct a Federal Audit of Police Capabilities as part of its five point plan for the AFP. The AFP’s budget to meet these increased demands has increased from $302 million in 2000 -01 to $1.141 billion in 2008 -09 (Outcome 1 only, i.e. excluding ACT community policing activities). The Federal Audit of Police Capabilities will: 1. Examine and report on: a. The AFP’s capabilities to provide for current and future demands, looking up to five years ahead, for policing and law enforcement services to the Commonwealth, including ho w the AFP will meet the Government’s priorities. b. The effectiveness of the AFP’s current operating arrangements, including: i. Human resources, skills and workforce planning; ii. Equipment, technology and facilities; iii. Planning and priority setting and evaluation pr ocesses; and iv. Current funding base and the allocation and use of resources. c. Gaps or overlaps in federal policing capabilities, and opportunities for improvement and rationalisation in the AFP’s strategic, operational and The Allen Consulting Group 3 F EDERAL A UDIT OF P OLICE C APABILITIES corporate capabilities to deliver th e Government’s required functions and services into the future in an efficient and effective manner. d. How the AFP’s capabilities relate to other Commonwealth agencies and State and Territory police services, including in areas of joint or intersecting acti vities between the AFP and those agencies. 2. Address any options to re -allocate resources to satisfy emerging Government expectations and consider how the AFP might address future budgetary constraints that it might anticipate or experience. 3. Have regard to a ny changes to the federal policing environment which may emerge from other relevant reviews, in particular the Review of Homeland and Border Security.