Australian Criminal Justice System: Federal Police Analysis Report

This report provides an overview of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) as a crucial component of the Australian criminal justice system. It begins with an introduction to law enforcement and the AFP's role at the federal level, discussing its responsibilities in enforcing criminal law and protecting national interests. The report then explores the AFP's historical background, including its formation in 1979 and subsequent developments, such as the amalgamation of different police entities. The discussion section highlights the AFP's key functions, including investigating federal offenses, providing protective services, and collaborating with international law enforcement agencies. It also addresses the contemporary challenges the AFP faces, such as preventing terrorism and combating transnational organized crime. The report emphasizes the importance of the AFP in safeguarding national security and upholding justice, while also acknowledging the need for improved regulatory frameworks to enhance its effectiveness. The conclusion summarizes the key points, underscoring the AFP's pivotal role in maintaining peace and administering justice within Australia and internationally.

Running head: CRIMINAL JUSTICE
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Law enforcement is considered to be one of the three primary mechanisms regarding the
criminal justice system of a country along with the courts as well as the corrections. It can be
understood that the officers, which are considered to work for the law enforcement, are
employed by all the three levels of the government, which are the state, federal, and the local. In
the federal front the primary law enforcement agency is considered to be the Australian Federal
Police and they are considered to have a wide mandate relating to enforce the criminal law in
Australia and also in addition to such try to secure and protect the national interests of the
country. There are various other agencies, which are prevailing, and such have their powers as
well as authorities confined to the areas which are specific such as the national security or the
customs and along with such immigration or the white-collar crime. These branches of the
Australian Defence Force are considered to have its own military police even if there are an
overarching ADF Investigative Service for several investigations which are considered to be
complex (Hess 2018).
This paper discusses the one of the arms of the Australian Criminal Justice System which
consists of the Australian Federal Police. The paper also discusses about the historic overview of
the Australian Federal Police which is considered to be one of the arms of the Australian
Criminal Justice system and also discusses the contemporary challenges which are faced by the
arm relating to the Australian Criminal Justice System. In conclusion, it summarizes the points
that have been dealt with in the paper.

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Discussion
Each of the Australian state is considered to enact the laws and the regulations relating to
the general duties for the law enforcement along with the obligation of the police forces of the
state who are considered to turn responsible due to the government minister or the minister of
police. These are the forces that carry out various bulk regarding policing in general throughout
the whole state which would be inclusive of the metropolitan areas. There are other state
government departments that are considered to have the investigative powers and such would be
for the specific or particular offences that fall within their purview. Therefore, the law
enforcement is considered to be handled by the federal government (Cherney and Murphy 2017).
According to the author Cherney (2018), it has been stated that, the Australian state as
well as the federal police are considered to routinely carry their firearms while most of the
officers on duty are considered have handgun, taser, expandable baton along with pepper spray
and a set of handcuffs. They also consist of ammunition magazines and along with such gloves
or torch and a two way radio. The homegrown governments are considered to have their smaller
forces of their own which comprises of authorized officers and they are known as the council
rangers in order to enforce their local laws from pertaining solely to the various individual local
government jurisdictions. The Council rangers are also considered to not have full police powers
unless they are considered to be sworn as the special constables. However, it has also been stated
that the principle federal law enforcement agency in Australia is considered to be the Australian
Federal Police. The AFP is considered to be responsible for the investigation of all the federal
offences and has a federal jurisdiction of Australia. They are considered to provide with
protective measures and services to the federal government along with the property or the
personal dignitaries which are inclusive of the major airports or the buildings or foreign

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embassies and diplomats and provide with state styled law enforcement services to those external
territories. The AFP is considered to provide with several liaison officers to the overseas posts in
order to assist in the relations with the various police forces overseas. Along with such they need
to provide with community policing that would provide assistance in the progress and
development of the foreign law and help in peacekeeping operations (Collins 2017).
The Australian Federal Police is considered to be the national as well as the primary
federal law enforcement agency which has a unique role of investigation of crimes and also
contributing towards the protection of the national security of the country. The AFP had been
formed in the year 1979 under the statutory provision of the Australian Federal Police Act 1979
after it had been amalgamated with the former Commonwealth Police and along with such the
Australian Capital Territory Police. Consequently after such there had been a review regarding
the anti-terrorism capacity of Australia by the former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police
in the United Kingdom. This was in turn considered to be commissioned by Fraser government
subsequently after the 1978 Hilton Bombing. In the month of November of 1979 the Federal
Narcotics Bureau was considered to be transferred to another agency which was new and the
protective service component was considered to be separated and such had been turned or
converted into the Australian Protective Service in the year of 1984 under the administrative
service and therefore after such it had been governed by the Attorney-General’s Department
where the agency was considered to be transferred back to the AFP in the year 2004 and such
had become to be known as the Australian Federal Police Uniform Protection (Prenzler and
Briody 2018).
AFP plays a crucial role in order to protect the Australian Criminal Justice System. It is
considered to contribute to the combating complex which is considered to be transnational and

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serious organized crime that has been effecting the national security of the country and along
with such to protect the Commonwealth interests from that of the criminal activity in Australia
and as well as overseas. The AFP is considered to be responsible to that of the Ministers for
Home Affairs and it also aims to investigate the complex as well as transnational and serious
organized crime. It also tries to protect the Australians along with their interests from terrorism
and other violent extremism. It also helps in representing the Australian police as well as the law
enforcement on a level which is considered to be international. In relation to such it also tries to
develop the unique capabilities regarding the exploitation of the advanced technology in order to
support the national interests of Australia. Along with such, there are other responsibilities which
consists of the community policing services that would be under the contracted arrangement and
to that of the Australian Capital Territory along with the other territories. It would provide with a
national protection capability that would help in ensuring the protection of the particular or
specific individuals. Along with such various other establishments or events that would help in
being identified with the Australian government which is considered to be at risk. It would also
be considered to provide with a national counter-terrorism as a first response capability that
would be focused with the aviation security along with the protection of the critical infrastructure
(Lyneham, Dowling and Bricknell 2019).
The AFP Uniform Protection is considered to provide protection for the Australian
government and along with such it also supervises and looks after the locations which are
throughout Australia internationally. The Uniform protection officers are considered to have
firearms as well as various trainings in defensive tactics that would be inclusive of various
services. It also provides the officers with the powers and the authorities under Section 14 of the
AFP Act 1979 to arrest or stop and search or request for identification in the jurisdiction. The

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officers in this uniform protection are considered to undertake and play an essential role in
securing and protecting the critical infrastructure of Australia and along with such assist them in
providing with protection for the high office holders. The AFP is considered to provide with
various community policing services to the community of ACT. Whereas, the State Police is
considered to enforce themselves with laws and regulations that would be within the state and
would be covered and protected by the individual state legislation (Prenzler and Briody 2018).
In spite of having several powers, the AFP is considered to struggle or face difficulties
with the enforcement of the Australian criminal law as a contribution to that of the combating
complex for the serious organized crimes which are considered to be causing an impact on the
national security of the country. The modern contemporary crime problems include prevention of
terrorism both internationally as well as domestically. It is difficult to control and monitor the
arrival of individuals who are considered to be displaced by violence or poverty or any kind of
climate change or peace-keeping in the states. Therefore, these are some of the contemporary
challenges faced by Australian Federal Police but such can be solved or improved through better
regulatory frameworks (McKenzie 2019).
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be understood from the above discussion that the criminal justice system
has its many organs or arms in order to administer justice and one of the arms regarding the
police or the Australian Federal Police as a law enforcement agency has been discussed in the
paper. The AFP is considered to play a pivotal role in execution and administration of justice as
such helps in providing with measures which would help in protecting the national security of
the country along with its interests. Therefore, although they have certain challenges the
regulatory framework needs to be improved and such will help in providing several powers to

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the AFP in order to carry out the work of administering justice and maintain peace in the country
as well as trying to do so internationally.

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References
Australian Federal Police Act 1979
Cherney, A. and Murphy, K., 2017. Police and community cooperation in counterterrorism:
Evidence and insights from Australia. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 40(12), pp.1023-1037.
Cherney, A., 2018. Police community engagement and outreach in a counterterrorism
context. Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, 13(1), pp.60-79.
Collins, M., 2017. Illicit drug profiling: the Australian experience–revisited. Australian journal
of forensic sciences, 49(6), pp.591-604.
Hess, M.C., 2018. The Australian Federal Police as an International Actor: Diplomacy by
Default.
Lyneham, S., Dowling, C. and Bricknell, S., 2019. Estimating the dark figure of human
trafficking and slavery victimisation in Australia. Australian Institute of Criminology.
McKenzie, M., 2019. Securitising transnational crime: the political drivers of police cooperation
between Australia and Indonesia. Policing and Society, 29(3), pp.333-348.
Prenzler, T. and Briody, M., 2018. Complaint reduction in Australian federal policing in the
Australian Capital Territory. Police Practice and Research, 19(5), pp.413-426.