ACT Policing Crime Threat Picture 2024

Commissioner’s foreword

I am pleased to launch the first annual ACT Policing Crime Threat Picture. It is ACT Policing’s mission to maintain peace and preserve public safety within the Australian Capital Territory, which fundamentally links the AFP’s national and international functions. 

Complementing the Australian Federal Police (AFP) Federal Crime Threat Picture, the ACT Crime Threat Picture highlights the evolving criminal and security threats confronting the ACT, and the shifting landscape that continues to evolve rapidly, driven by advancements in technology.

ACT Policing is a critical community facing arm of the AFP. AFP enterprise capabilities, including intelligence, technology, forensics and more, continue to be flexibly deployed to support key outcomes of ACT Policing, to meet the ever-evolving challenges faced in keeping the community safe from harm.

Reece P Kershaw APM
Commissioner
Australian Federal Police

Message from the CPO

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) delivers community policing in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and although ACT Policing is intrinsically linked with our federal colleagues, we are driven by the community expectations of Canberrans. 

ACT Policing’s mission is to keep the peace and preserve public safety within the ACT whilst striving to deliver a professional and effective service to the people of Canberra in all aspects of law enforcement. To do this, we deliver a community focused Police Services Model – an intelligence led, evidence based, agile, mobile and systemic approach to a preventative model of policing. 

Ensuring Canberrans are and feel safe and secure in all that they do, is of the highest priority for ACT Policing. Keeping our community safe and protecting people, places and events, in other words, to protect life and protect livelihoods is at the core of ACT Policing’s mission. Like our federal counterpart, ACT Policing works to address emerging tech-led threats, by promoting a tech-enabled workforce, to disrupt emerging avenues of criminality to protect the community from harm. 

The ACT Crime Threat Picture provides insight into emerging trends and the shifting landscape of criminal and security threats facing the ACT and outlines how ACT Policing is countering these threats. ACT Policing works collaboratively with key state and federal partners to foster innovation, share capabilities, and promote diversity, whilst supporting the frontline and ensuring the community and nation stays ahead of the evolving criminal landscape.

Deputy Commissioner Scott Lee APM
Chief Police Officer
ACT Policing

About ACT Policing

Our role

Through the 2022–26 Purchase Agreement with the AFP, ACT Policing is responsible for providing quality and effective policing services to the people of the ACT. We do this in partnership with the community and the ACT Government.

Our mission

Our mission is to keep the peace and preserve public safety within the ACT.

Our intent

We strive to deliver a professional, innovative and effective policing service in an ever-changing environment for the ACT community.

Our values

We pride ourselves on being a values-driven organisation. Our core values of integrity, commitment, excellence, accountability, fairness, respect and trust represent our principles and standards — the values we uphold in performing our professional duties.

Our governance

The key documents which govern the delivery of policing services to the ACT are the Policing Arrangement, 2022–26 Purchase Agreement and Ministerial Direction.

Key areas of focus for ACT policing to protect lives and livelihoods

Countering Domestic and Family Violence

ACT Policing and support agencies are receiving increased reports of Domestic and Family Violence incidents, and as first responders we see the devastating effect this offending has on the community. Domestic and Family Violence is a complex social issue that often occurs ‘behind closed doors’ and is brought to the attention of police and support agencies when at the point of crisis. 

ACT Policing responds to approximately 4,000 Domestic and Family Violence (FV) incidents annually, with an increase in incidents expected each year, emphasising the importance for ACT Policing to continue our work responding to Domestic and Family Violence by:

• Supporting and implementing the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-32, and continuing work to refine our response to Family Violence.
• Continuing to develop the secondary response model to provide a tailored and coordinated approach for both victim-survivors and perpetrators of Domestic and Family Violence. To achieve this, the Family Violence Unit (FVU) will work closely with Child and Youth Protection Services (CYPS), Domestic Violence Crisis Services (DVSC) and Victims Support ACT (VSACT), in developing strategies through a collaborative approach, ensuring support is maximised for victim-survivors.

Domestic and Family Violence does not discriminate, with the trauma experienced having adverse and enduring effects for many members of our community.

Reducing the overrepresentation of First Nations people in the criminal justice system 

Nationally, over 14 per cent of Australia’s prison population are of First Nations origin and are in prison at 13 times the rate of non-First Nations people. Whilst the degree of overrepresentation varies between jurisdictions, the ACT does see a significant overrepresentation of First Nations people in the criminal justice system. ACT Policing will work with the ACT Government to reduce this overrepresentation through:

• Continued support and delivery in line with the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement 2019-2028 to prevent and reduce the number of First Nations people involved with the criminal justice system.
• Ongoing engagement with the local First Nations communities to further develop solid and trusting relationships through open dialogue, enhancing our understanding of the challenges faced by First Nations people.
• Working through the ACT Policing First Nations Working Group, to finalise the framework for engagement with our First Nations community and implement the agreed recommendations from the Ombudsman’s report on ACT Policing’s administrative framework for engagement with the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

ACT Policing will continue to work closely with First Nations people in the ACT and engage with those who have lived experience within the ACT criminal justice system.

Implementing effective sexual violence prevention and responses

ACT Policing has committed to take action to prevent and respond to sexual violence in Canberra by developing an effective, systemic, evidence-based response. ACT Policing will contribute to a whole of Territory response through:

• Continued implementation of recommendations within the Listen, Take Action to Prevent, Believe and Heal report, by working collaboratively with the Coordinator-General for Family Safety and the Victims of Crime Commissioner (VOCC) and other key partners on the delivery of outcomes against the recommendations as appropriate.
• Reviewing the workforce structure, training and decision-making governance surrounding sexual assault investigations to ensure victim-centric responses remains a core consideration.
• Continuing to work closely with victim support groups to deliver a high level of support, response and care to victim-survivors, and upholding the Charter of Rights for Victims of Crime under the Victims of Crime Act 1994 (ACT).

Raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility

The minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) reform aims to divert children and young people who engage in harmful behaviour away from the criminal justice system to avoid potentially significant impacts on their neurological and social development. Children and young people will be provided with therapeutic supports and restorative care to address the underlying causes of their conduct. 

ACT Policing will continue to support raising of the MACR through engagement with key ACT Government directorates on the transition to these arrangements and proactive collaboration to ensure decision makers are fully informed regarding known, and yet to be considered, outcomes resultant of the policy.

ACT Threat Environment 

Ensuring ACT roads are safe by combatting dangerous driving

Dangerous driving continues to be a risk to the community, ACT Policing is committed to finding ways to reduce this serious offending, in both prevention and post-incident response. Ensuring the ACT community is appropriately protected from dangerous driving and those who engage in it is a priority.  

Policing is committed to Vision Zero – a principle meaning no deaths or serious injuries on the road transport network, as such deaths and serious injuries are preventable. ACT Policing will continue to target the ‘fatal five’ factors contributing to road injuries and death by:

• Minimising the number of serious injuries and fatalities on our roads by exploring additional mechanisms, including potential legislative reform, to reduce incidents of dangerous driver behaviour in the ACT.
• Education, innovation and targeted enforcement by working with partner agencies, supporting the ACT Road Safety Strategy and Action plan and maintaining targets to align with the ACT Road Safety Calendar.

ACT Policing recognises the ongoing concern in the ACT community regarding dangerous driving, which tragically continues to claim lives.

Countering terrorism and violent extremism

Terrorism and violent extremism remain enduring and serious threats to the safety of the Australian community and are becoming increasingly complex and diversified through the use of new technologies and techniques. As we move into an increasingly tech-based criminal threat environment, ACT Policing and the AFP work collaboratively to leverage shared capabilities and resources, ensuring police are at the forefront of crime.

Violent extremists are leveraging technology, including social media, to radicalise and recruit to their cause by spreading propaganda, misinformation and disinformation to a range of social media platforms. The ACT Fixated and Lone-Actor Grievance‑Fuelled Violence (FLAG) Assessment team have identified that vulnerable youth, including those who have diverse cognitive profiles or mental health conditions, are more susceptible to being targeted online by violent extremists who aim to radicalise and recruit individuals. 

ACT Policing combats religiously and ideologically motivated violent extremism by:

• Continuing to strengthen the safety of the ACT community, including in public spaces, through ACT Policing’s dedicated Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Case Manager role within the Education and Diversion Team of the Vulnerable Persons portfolio.
• Delivering the Commonwealth funded Living Safe Together Intervention Program (LSTIP) and the FLAG team which intends to work with individuals and communities who are vulnerable to radicalisation by providing support and awareness to those who are susceptible to radicalisation or who demonstrate unhealthy extremist behaviours.    

ACT Policing will remain adaptive to the evolving crime threat picture by continuing enhanced intelligence sharing with the AFP and other key partners, community engagement initiatives and the implementation of robust policies to ensure the highest safety standards for the ACT community.

Strengthening our community from being exploited by organised crime 

Serious and organised crime presents a significant ongoing risk to the ACT community, as organised crime profits through the exploitation of the community. The ACT community has become increasingly exposed to the violence that accompanies organised crime, with shootings, arson attacks, serious assaults and murder becoming more prominent. ACT Policing works closely with the AFP to combat and disrupt, serious and organised crime by:

• Driving initiatives through collaborative law enforcement efforts to advance surveillance techniques, community awareness and stringent legal measures that strengthen the community from being targeted by organised crime syndicates whilst continuing to focus on seizing associated wealth derived from this criminal activity.
• Enhancing our response to, and the investigation of, offences, in particular drug production and trafficking, by forging strong relationships with stakeholders to facilitate cross-jurisdictional information sharing and targeting activities.
• Applying technological and forensic capabilities that enhances the effective use of intelligence from a wide range of sources to disrupt these groups within the community. 

ACTP will continue to maintain strong partnerships with law enforcement partners, whilst adopting a technology based approach to disrupt organised crime, which is lucrative, clandestine, complex, and linked closely to legitimate businesses across all sectors.