90 research outputs found
Essential and underappreciated: the contribution of law enforcement to national security
No full textWhile law enforcement has traditionally been separate from national security, this report argues that the emergence of new threats and risks for the national interest has changed that.
Introduction
ASPI is pleased to introduce its new Strategic Policing and Law Enforcement Program. We believe that the contribution to national security of international law enforcement and the activities that support it are not widely appreciated by the policy development, academic and think tank community. As a result, there’s a dearth of discussion of the role and relative priority of strategic policing. So while government has no shortage of external advice on matters such as defence and foreign policy from a range of contributors—including ASPI—that’s not the case in the policing sector.
Our assessment of the importance of this work is shared by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), which has provided funding for this research. As is ASPI’s remit, we will develop and provide independent policy advice to inform the public debate about how Australia’s law enforcement agencies should be used to advance Australia’s interests, especially in the area of national security. This introductory paper outlines the agenda for the Strategic Policing and Law Enforcement Program
A long time coming: the case for a white paper on Commonwealth law enforcement policy
No full textThis report argues that it’s time for the federal cabinet to take a coordinated and strategic look at its law enforcement responsibilities, starting with a review.
Overview
Strong international, technological, political and social forces are changing the criminal challenge to Australia. These forces mean that the Australian Government will to need to take a greater role in law enforcement in the future.
It’s time for the federal cabinet to take a coordinated and strategic look at its law enforcement responsibilities, starting with a review of how today’s Commonwealth law enforcement system needs to adapt to the anticipated operating environment over the next 10–20 years.
This paper puts the case for a law enforcement white paper process that would assemble the arguments and allow the federal cabinet to decide on what role it will take in this central policy area
Investing wisely: spending political capital on Australia’s criminal intelligence capabilities
No full textOverview: This report examines a recent proposal to merge the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) and the CrimTrac Agency. There are two distinct—but not irreconcilable—views about this proposal. Reconciling these views will require detailed research about how a merged organisation would benefit all stakeholders—especially the frontline police and criminal intelligence operators in all the jurisdictions.
But does the merger proposal actually address the right question? This report argues that a better way to view this problem is to ask how the Commonwealth can play a role as a steward for national criminal intelligence.
Importantly, this question presents an opportunity for the Australian Justice Minister to give the federal Cabinet a chance to consider the Commonwealth’s role in law enforcement more holistically
Crisis Policymaking: Australia and the East Timor Crisis of 1999
No full textEast Timor’s violent transition to independence, which began early in 1999, presented the Australian Government with a significant foreign policy crisis. This crisis was not sudden, totally unexpected or ultimately threatening to Australia’s survival. But the crisis consumed the attention of Australian leaders, saw significant national and international resources employed, and led to the largest operational deployment for the Australian Defence Force since the Vietnam War. This crisis also created a significant rupture in the hitherto carefully-managed relationships between Australia and its important neighbor, Indonesia. The events of September 1999 ultimately led to the birth of a new nation and the deaths of many people who might have otherwise expected to enjoy that independence. In this major study, David Connery examines how the Australian Government—at the political and bureaucratic levels—developed and managed national security policy in the face of this crisis. The events, and the policymaking processes that both led and followed, are reconstructed using sixty interviews with key participants. This study identifies certain characteristics of crisis policymaking in Australia that include a dominant executive, secrecy, external actors and complexity
The Commonwealth's part in the fight against organised crime: it's worth doing more
No full textThis report makes a case for the Commonwealth expanding its role in fighting organised crime, and provides the first detailed analysis of its recent anti-gangs initiatives.Dr Connery presents an argument for the Commonwealth to take the lead in developing nation-wide capability in this area by enhancing the existing multi-jurisdictional coordination arrangements against organised crime, and providing a pool of funds to encourage all the states and territories to develop inter-operable information sharing, investigative and response abilities. The paper also recommends that the Council of Australian Governments review the mechanisms it uses to coordinate domestic security challenges, as these are becoming somewhat duplicative and could be simplified.This paper is the inaugural report to come out of ASPI\u27s Strategic Policing and Law Enforcement Program, headed by Dr Connery. 
A web of harms: serious and organised crime and its impact on Australian interests
No full textOverview
This report analyses serious, transnational and organised crime and the harms it causes to Australia’s interest, with the aim of reinvigorating a discussion of this critical matter amongst Australians.
This web impacts on our national interests to the sum of an estimated $15 billion per year. That very conservative estimate includes costs to government through denied revenue and increased law enforcement costs. But there are also social, health and economic harms to individuals, community and business.
The report poses a series of questions to be considered by the community, business and government
Should ministerial arrangements for domestic security be changed?
No full textAre Australia\u27s ministerial arrangements for managing domestic security optimal? This paper examines this question as a debate.
Overview
The recent increase in Australia’s terrorism alert, reported prime ministerial concern over national security arrangements, major increases in counterterrorism funding and operational success against people smuggling have raised a new question in Canberra: are our arrangements for managing domestic security optimal? This paper examines this question as a debate.
Presenting the case for change is ASPI senior analyst David Connery. He gives five reasons why change is needed, before proposing a new split in which a Minister for Security and Resilience takes over responsibility for enforcing Australia’s domestic security and emergency management laws.
Peter Jennings, ASPI’s executive director, presents a case for the status quo, arguing that the National Security Committee of Cabinet (NSC) is more important in ensuring coordinated security policy than the division of responsibilities among its ministers
Crisis Policymaking
No full textEast Timor's violent transition to independence, which began early in 1999, presented the Australian Government with a significant foreign policy crisis. This crisis was not sudden, totally unexpected or ultimately threatening to Australia's survival. But the crisis consumed the attention of Australian leaders, saw significant national and international resources employed, and led to the largest operational deployment for the Australian Defence Force since the Vietnam War. This crisis also created a significant rupture in the hitherto carefully-managed relationships between Australia and its important neighbor, Indonesia. The events of September 1999 ultimately led to the birth of a new nation and the deaths of many people who might have otherwise expected to enjoy that independence.In this major study, David Connery examines how the Australian Government—at the political and bureaucratic levels—developed and managed national security policy in the face of this crisis. The events, and the policymaking processes that both led and followed, are reconstructed using sixty interviews with key participants. This study identifies certain characteristics of crisis policymaking in Australia that include a dominant executive, secrecy, external actors and complexity
Crisis Policymaking: Australia and the East Timor Crisis of 1999
No full textEast Timor’s violent transition to independence, which began early in 1999, presented the Australian Government with a significant foreign policy crisis. This crisis was not sudden, totally unexpected or ultimately threatening to Australia’s survival. But the crisis consumed the attention of Australian leaders, saw significant national and international resources employed, and led to the largest operational deployment for the Australian Defence Force since the Vietnam War. This crisis also created a significant rupture in the hitherto carefully-managed relationships between Australia and its important neighbor, Indonesia. The events of September 1999 ultimately led to the birth of a new nation and the deaths of many people who might have otherwise expected to enjoy that independence.
In this major study, David Connery examines how the Australian Government—at the political and bureaucratic levels—developed and managed national security policy in the face of this crisis. The events, and the policymaking processes that both led and followed, are reconstructed using sixty interviews with key participants. This study identifies certain characteristics of crisis policymaking in Australia that include a dominant executive, secrecy, external actors and complexity
Crisis Policymaking: Australia and the East Timor Crisis of 1999
No full textEast Timor’s violent transition to independence, which began early in 1999, presented the Australian Government with a significant foreign policy crisis. This crisis was not sudden, totally unexpected or ultimately threatening to Australia’s survival. But the crisis consumed the attention of Australian leaders, saw significant national and international resources employed, and led to the largest operational deployment for the Australian Defence Force since the Vietnam War. This crisis also created a significant rupture in the hitherto carefully-managed relationships between Australia and its important neighbor, Indonesia. The events of September 1999 ultimately led to the birth of a new nation and the deaths of many people who might have otherwise expected to enjoy that independence. In this major study, David Connery examines how the Australian Government—at the political and bureaucratic levels—developed and managed national security policy in the face of this crisis. The events, and the policymaking processes that both led and followed, are reconstructed using sixty interviews with key participants. This study identifies certain characteristics of crisis policymaking in Australia that include a dominant executive, secrecy, external actors and complexity
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