Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I present the reports of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement on the examination of the 2024-25 annual reports of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and the Australian Federal Police. I move:

That the Senate take note of the report on the Australian Federal Police annual report 2024-25.

I rise as the Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement to present the committee's report examining the Australian Federal Police annual report 2024-25.

I note the retirement of Mr Reece Kershaw APM from the role of AFP commissioner in October 2025. The committee thanks Mr Kershaw for his service to the AFP, including six years as AFP commissioner, and for his assistance to this committee's work over the years.

The committee welcomes the appointment of Commissioner Krissy Barrett APM, the first female to be appointed to the position of AFP commissioner. The committee acknowledges Commissioner Barrett's priorities for the AFP, including futureproofing the workforce, supercharging global operations, defending domestic and regional security, protecting vulnerable communities and investing in technology and capability.

The committee looks forward to the AFP achieving this vision under her leadership.

Regarding the AFP's annual report for 2024-25, I'm pleased to report that the committee did not identify any major issues of concern. The AFP met all but one of its performance criteria during the reporting period, and, for the target that was not met, a detailed explanation was provided.

As Australia's national policing agency, the AFP defends and protects Australians and Australia's future from domestic and global security threats. Key achievements for 2024-25 included:

The committee recognises the increasing complexity and long lead times of some AFP investigations which do not fit neatly into an annual reporting period. The inclusion of case studies containing the details of operations is helpful to illustrate this aspect of police work.

During the period, Operation Firestorm was established to counter organised cybercriminal groups engaged in large-scale cyber-enabled fraud. The AFP worked with its Philippines partners to track down a major scam centre which had impacted approximately 5,000 Australians.

Operation Kraken focused on disrupting the use of the Ghost platform by organised criminals to import drugs, launder money and commit violent crimes. As of 31 December 2025, through this operation, the AFP executed 99 search warrants, charged 55 offenders with numerous offences, seized firearms and weapons, prevented 50 threats to life, seized 242 kilograms of illicit drugs and $3.7 million in cash, and restrained assets valued at $24.37 million.

The committee wishes to highlight the work of the AFP in delivering the Pacific Police Partnership Program. As of 30 June 2025, approximately 106 AFP members were located across the Pacific and Timor-Leste, working directly with local law enforcement. The AFP plays a vital role in ensuring security throughout the region and reducing the flow of illicit drugs to Australia. The committee commends the AFP for maintaining strong relationships across the Pacific and with its international partners.

Regarding the AFP's countering child exploitation work, the committee recently undertook a site visit to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation and heard firsthand about the crucial role the AFP plays in protecting children in Australia and around the world. The committee acknowledges the difficult and important work of the Australian Federal Police in this space.

The AFP is focused on establishing the ACT portion of the National Firearms Register, and the AFP is currently in the initial discovery and design phase, which is scheduled to be completed by early 2026. The committee looks forward to the integration of jurisdictions into the central component of the register, which is expected to be ready by the end of 2026.

The AFP's most important asset is its people. They have been progressing several initiatives to improve recruitment and wellbeing, and the AFP's dedicated recruitment efforts are positively impacting the organisation. The AFP has also introduced enhanced paid parental leave provisions for all parents, including expanding paid parental leave to 18 weeks for primary carers and introducing a phased increase to entitlements for secondary carers to enable more AFP members to spend early parenting time with their families. The committee expects that this will positively impact its workforce.

I commended the AFP for continuing to perform well in a very complex operating environment to protect the safety of Australians, and I wish to thank the AFP officers who gave evidence to the committee and also my fellow committee members for their contribution to the committee's important oversight of this role. I commend the report to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report on the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission annual report 2024-25.

I rise as Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement to present the committee's report examining the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, ACIC, annual report for 2024-25.

I am pleased to report that the committee is satisfied with the performance of the ACIC. No major issues of concern were identified in this annual report examination. The ACIC fully met nine of its 11 targets and substantially met its two remaining targets. Detailed explanations for the ACIC's results were provided in the annual report.

As Australia's national criminal intelligence agency, the ACIC's purpose is to protect Australia from serious criminal threats by collecting, assessing and disseminating intelligence and policing information. Its key achievements in 2024-25 included

The committee recognises the work of the ACIC in continuing to upgrade the information systems relied on by policing agencies around the country. The committee is pleased that the National Continuous Checking Capability for working-with-children and police checks will introduce a real-time checking capability as opposed to the point-in-time checks. The committee looks forward to seeing this capability becoming operational.

The committee acknowledges the continued progress and uptake of the National Criminal Intelligence System. The committee notes that every state and territory is consuming information from the system and that some jurisdictions are working to address quality issues before feeding information into the system.

The committee understands that the platform is assisting law enforcement agencies in their frontline operations. The next phase will be to integrate historical data into the NCIS and expand access to this information. The committee will continue to monitor progress of this project.

Since 2024, the ACIC has been developing the National Firearms Register. The project is expected to take four years and will streamline information between jurisdictions to help make Australia safer. The committee understands that the ACIC is accelerating the delivery of the register by the end of 2026 so that jurisdictions can integrate into the central component as a matter of priority.

The committee commends the ACIC for its efforts in relation to staff wellbeing, retention and recruitment. The committee is pleased to report that the ACIC is attracting high volumes of high-calibre applications through its recruitment processes. Staff wellbeing has also increased from the year prior, and the agency saw a significant improvement in its attrition rate from December 2024 to December 2025.

Overall, the committee is pleased with the performance of the ACIC. The committee has monitored and reviewed the performance of the ACIC since 2010. From 4 June 2026, this oversight role will transfer to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. While we are a little sad about losing the oversight role, there needed to be a change in this parliamentary oversight, and it will still be appropriate for ACIC to provide written submissions or appear before the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement at public hearings for inquiries relating to serious and organised crime. As such, the committee looks forward to continued engagement with the ACIC.

I commend, along with the committee members, their work and thank the officers of the ACIC for their important contribution to reducing the harm to Australia from transnational serious and organised crime.

I commend the committee's report to the Senate. I appreciate, as I said, both the AFP and the ACIC, who do their job every day to keep Australians safe.