The Australian Federal Police has more to do when it comes to taking action on complaints made against its officers, an ombudsman review has said. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
An ombudsman’s review found the Australian Federal Police (AFP) is not taking appropriate action when it comes to many of the complaints made against its officers, including those in the ACT.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman’s annual report on the AFP’s handling of complaints from July 2023 to June 2024 was released this week, involving reviews into allegations of serious and minor misconduct by members of the AFP and ACT Policing.
Ombudsman Iain Anderson found the AFP had not delivered a complaint handling system that was meeting the requirements of the legislation, particularly when it came to exercising its discretion to take no further action on complaints.
“I am concerned that the AFP is not delivering a complaint handling system that meets the requirements of the [legislation] by disregarding complaints about its officers which should be investigated,” he said.
“In my view, the failure to adequately address issues that have been the subject of previous recommendations by my office does not reflect responsible administration.”
The report says when compared with previous years, the AFP was exercising the discretion to take no further action on minor misconduct complaints in a disproportionate manner.
Most of the instances involving the discretion to take no further action on these complaints were unreasonable and unfair.
“We found systemic issues with how the AFP was communicating with complainants,” the report also says.
Commonwealth Ombudsman Iain Anderson made 19 recommendations for the AFP. Photo: IPAA.
When it came to complaints alleging serious misconduct, the review found instances where using the discretion to take no further action was not reasonable having regard to all circumstances.
“My office previously identified a systemic issue of the AFP not investigating complaints based on the perceived merits of incomplete information, often without sufficient attempt to obtain potential evidence from complainants and AFP appointees,” Mr Anderson said.
“I am concerned this issue has not been addressed and the AFP is continuing to decide to not investigate complaints before confirming the existence of relevant evidence.”
The ombudsman made 19 recommendations to the AFP to improve its handling of complaints about police conduct. Twelve of these were accepted in full and seven were partially accepted.
In a letter to the ombudsman written before the release of the report, AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said he had initiated an external review into the complaints management process.
When contacted for a response to the report, an AFP spokesperson said its chief operating officer now had oversight of all components the AFP’s integrity framework.
“The AFP takes all matters relating to the conduct of AFP members and employees, including allegations of corruption, seriously,” they said.
“The AFP is committed to working with the ombudsman to ensure continuous improvement of the AFP Professional Standards Framework, including a best practice complaints management system.”
AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw (right) said he had already instigated an external review. Photo: AFP.
Meanwhile, Australian Federal Police Association (AFPA) president Alex Caruana said if investigations about complaints were not done thoroughly, the process failed both the public and his members.
“That’s why we’re calling for better training, more resources and a system that can cope with the volume and complexity of complaints being made,” he said.
“Having an under-resourced professional standards favours no-one. It places pressure on investigators, it blows up timeliness on investigations and it creates a toxic work environment.
“For too long the AFPA expressed concern about the lack of communication with both complainants and AFP appointees during the complaint process, a problem identified in the report as persisting for over a decade. Both parties deserve clear and timely updates.”
Mr Caruana said the association supported a robust and transparent complaints process, but one that also ensured procedural fairness for AFP appointees.
“Discretion has a role, especially in filtering out matters that are clearly vexatious or trivial. Ultimately, decisions must be justified and properly recorded,” he said.
“We’d welcome clearer guidelines on how discretion should be used in practice.”
The ombudsman’s report is available to read by clicking here.
